gossip

    Well, Kim, the Drabble feud seems to be all about
    sibling rivalry.

    The two of them were brought up in the North of England
    in the unyielding atmosphere of a fairly well off, 'intellectual'
    family where achievement (especially the academic variety)
    was the key to approval. Father a judge, mother a professional
    disgruntlee. After a posh Quaker school where they were
    imbued with the habits of plain living & high thinking (I know
    what it was like, I went to one too), they proceeded to
    Newnham, Cambridge where the rivalry seems really to have
    taken off. Firsts .... Double Firsts .... Starred Firsts.
    Like some pathetic, fucking, ping-pong match.

    They've probably mellowed a bit since then, but for years
    could not bear to hear the other's name, let alone presence
    in the same room. Both have gone through the ritual of failed
    first marriages & second attempts, but while Antonia's progress
    has been stately & predictable (Bryn Mawr, Somerville, UCL,
    BBC, British Council, blah blah blah....) Margaret's has been
    a little more endearingly rackety - including a season on the boards
    with the Royal Shakespeare; she also writes shorter, snappier
    books - the kind I can just about get through & of which John O
    so strongly disapproves.

    (Incidentally, no softie me. Adamantine.)

    Scottie B.

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Received on Wed May 28 04:36:57 2003