That's Phoebe and Margot on our doorstep on Sunday evening. Phoebe is five and has just begun her second full year at primary school. Margot will be three in November. What I especially like about this photograph is their sisterly hands wrapped in unity around each other. I sincerely hope that they will always be friends, always there for each other even though life might take them miles or continents apart. There won't be any more siblings - just the two of them.
This afternoon, I walked over to the neighbouring suburb of Nether Edge. It's a mile away. And there I thought of two other sisters who were born in Sheffield back in the 1930s. They lived in Number 36, Meadowbank Avenue which is a rather nice Edwardian cul-de-sac with a big green in the middle.
The sisters' names were Margaret and Antonia. Amazingly, they both became internationally acclaimed writers. People who read books will be familiar with both their names - even if you haven't actually read any of their work. As with Phoebe and Margot, there was a three year age gap.
Margaret retained her birth name - Margaret Drabble while the older sister, Antonia, adopted the name from her first marriage - becoming A.S. Byatt. As I say, it's quite staggering that two girls from the same family should make it to the top - not just by getting their books published but gaining so many plaudits.
Margaret above and Antonia below
Antonia won The Booker Prize for Fiction in 1990 for her novel, "Possession: A Romance", while Margaret received the American Academy of Arts and Letters E.M.Forster Award in 1973, the same year that she became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature by election.
It has often been said that as sisters they became estranged from each other as the years passed by. How much truth there is in that, I do not know, but if there was an enduring rift it was a real shame. Interestingly, I could not find any pictures of the two sisters together. They had so much in common and both spent countless days and nights crafting brilliant books. They could have been there for each other as I hope our Phoebe and Margot will always be.
36 Meadowbank Avenue - childhood home of Margaret Drabble and A.S.Byatt
I am the older sister and my sister is 3 years younger than me. We've always gotten along very well and shared a room when we were growing up. I was a really good big sister, if I do say so myself, and she will attest to that! :)
ReplyDeleteSo good that your fellow traveller through life did not let you down Ellen.
DeletePhoebe and Margot, loving sisters. May they always be this close.
ReplyDeleteMargaret Drabble and Antonia Byatt's estrangement ...
There was no sisterly reconciliation. Antonia died in November of 2023.
Antonia's 11 year old son was knocked down and killed by a drunk driver.
One Pair of Eyes. Margaret Drabble. BBC Archive.
BBC. I Love This Dirty Town. YouTube. Written by Margaret Drabble.
Byatt. Possession : A Romance. A Whistling Woman. The Children's Book.
Babel Tower. Wordsworth and Coleridge in Their Time. Passions of the Mind.
Drabble. Realms of Gold. The Ice Age. The Peppered Moth. The Needle's Eye.
The Witch of Exmoor. Jerusalem the Golden. A Life of Arnold Bennett.
I must admit that have never read any Drabble or Byatt. I hope to put that right soon. "The Children's Book" appeals to me.
DeleteI read books but am unfamilar with both of these authors. Perhaps they don't write what I like to read. It is a shame that they drifted apart and I hope that my grand daughters will always be close and there for each other, just as I hope the same for Phoebe and Margot.
ReplyDeleteIt is true that neither Margaret Drabble nor her sister wrote erotic fiction Elsie.
DeleteAll the best for Phoebe and Margot.
ReplyDeleteI was a big fan of Byatt's "A Virgin in the Garden" when it came out, but it was a bloody long wait for the rest of the series and though enjoyable none ever gave me as much pleasure as the first. I also liked Byatt's other stuff - even the pastichey stuff. I would happily start a Drabble but not always properly finish it (I'd probably still try to skim to the end). As for their estrangement, writers at that level have to be pretty intense people, don't they?
I suspect that a lot of the bad feeling stemmed from the fact that Margaret Drabble was already an established and admired writer before her older sister got started.
DeleteSuch darling little children
ReplyDeleteAnd so beautifully innocent Ruby.
DeleteMy sister and I are only 13 months apart in age and frequently fought as we were growing up. Now, though we are very close and happy to have each other.
ReplyDeleteFellow travellers - there for each other when your mother was not there for you.
DeleteI've heard of Drabble.
ReplyDeleteI am pleased my family has never had a blow up and a not speakies, short or long term. We can be critical of each other without it become a big blue.
Isn't drabble what oozed from your mouth after a long night at Billboard Saturdays?
DeleteThat is a beautiful photo of your granddaughters. Today is my sister's birthday. She is six years younger than me, but we are so close, even though we live a good 12 hour drive from each other. And we always do look after each other. My father's two sisters are still alive, but they haven't spoken to each other in years. Some family drama happened of which I am not aware. It is sad to think that sisters could be that way.
ReplyDeleteYou and your sister are a good advertisement for siblinghood - if indeed there is such a word.
DeleteFamilies can be hard to navigate, but they are the longest bond of a person's life.
ReplyDeleteYou can drop friends and move on but family bonds are always there and you can never entirely shake off those blood connections.
DeleteGet them started writing stories, you will be a great mentor.
ReplyDeleteI will get Phoebe to write a story about a penguin that swam the length of the Washington D.C. reflecting pool and survived!
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