This image is the cover for the book Day in the Life of a Smiling Woman

Day in the Life of a Smiling Woman

Short fiction from “a fastidious chronicler of the vagaries of women’s lives in England since the early nineteen-sixties” (Joyce Carol Oates, The New Yorker).

In stories that explore marriage, female friendships, the English tourist abroad, love affairs with houses, peace demonstrations, gin and tonics, cultural TV programs, and more, Margaret Drabble showcases her insight into the lives of women. This decade-spanning collection not only reveals how the female experience has—and hasn’t—changed; it also demonstrates the talent that has earned Drabble multiple literary honors, including the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and a Golden PEN Award, and made her “one of the United Kingdom’s finest contemporary fiction writers” (Publishers Weekly, starred review).

Margaret Drabble

Margaret Drabble is the author of The Sea Lady, The Seven Sisters, The Peppered Moth, and The Needle's Eye, among other novels. For her contributions to contemporary English literature, she was made a Dame of the British Empire in 2008.

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (www.hmhco.com)