The Garrick Year

First edition
(publ. Weidenfeld & Nicolson)

The Garrick Year is the second novel by British novelist Margaret Drabble, first published in 1964. It is a first-person account of Emma, a London wife and mother examining the fraught bits of her marriage and an affair.

Development

Drabble wrote the novel while living in Stratford-upon-Avon, the birthplace of William Shakespeare, thus The Garrick Year focuses significantly on a satirical treatment of the theatre and actors.

Reception

Kirkus Reviews deemed the novel better than Drabble's debut novel, A Summer Bird-Cage.