Michèle Roberts Criticism
Michèle Roberts, an English novelist, short story writer, poet, and essayist, is known for exploring themes of female identity and passion, often set against the backdrop of Catholicism and patriarchal family structures. Her works interweave narratives of women from various historical periods, highlighting feminist perspectives. Critics have noted her sensuous and descriptive language, drawing on biblical, mythological, and religious iconography. Roberts's novels frequently revisit mythological and biblical tales with a feminist lens, as seen in works like The Wild Girl and The Book of Mrs. Noah. In In the Red Kitchen, she juxtaposes the lives of four women from different eras, exploring themes of memory and identity, which some critics like Susan Rowland argue make feminist ethical claims. Her novel Daughters of the House, praised as her most successful by critics like Francis King, delves into family secrets and historical trauma, examining the deep ambivalence and sadness between two cousins, as noted by Roz Kaveney. Despite some criticism for being overly didactic, Roberts's storytelling is often praised for its complexity and thematic depth, with The Looking Glass and The Mistressclass showcasing her ability to blend historical context with personal narratives. Her thematic focus on female experiences across time has led to a diverse body of work, which includes poetry collections and essays on writing, further illustrating her narrative versatility and depth.
Contents
- Principal Works
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Essays
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Uncle Kingsley
(summary)
In the following excerpt, Parrinder comments that In the Red Kitchen is more experimental, though less successful, than Roberts's previous novels.
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Whispers of Immortality
(summary)
In the following review, Birch describes In the Red Kitchen as an exploration of the feminine unconscious using the narratives of the four central characters.
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Medium with a Message
(summary)
In the following review, Doughty comments that the different narrative voices of In the Red Kitchen are unified by common themes, contending that the book is “a truly post-feminist novel.”
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In the Red Kitchen
(summary)
In the following review, the critic observes that In the Red Kitchen contains richly descriptive prose but comments that the different narrative voices in the novel are confusing. The novel features four main characters narrating their stories, interrelating in unexpected ways, ultimately inviting the reader to choose which voice to believe. Despite the complexity, the novel is noted for its rich description and variety of perspectives.
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Moments of Choice
(summary)
In the following review, Kaveney comments that the strength of Daughters of the House lies in the ambivalence of the characters, as well as Roberts's descriptions of deep sadness, sense of loss, and anguished memory. Daughters of the House is an English novel about French Catholic provincial life; an overt but restrained feminism informs it and creates a sense of deep sadness. Cousins Thérèse and Léonie, born during the Occupation in a small Norman village, support each other through puberty and the death of Thérèse's mother, but are separated by Thérèse's vocation and by Léonie's marriage. Twenty years later, Thérèse returns, having decided to leave the convent, and finds their relationship has curdled.
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Too Much Goes into a Best Cellar
(summary)
In the following review, King asserts that Daughters of the House is Roberts's most successful novel to date but finds it lacking in plot structure and character development.
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Past Imperfect
(summary)
In the following review, Cooke praises Daughters of the House for a satisfying plot, complex characters, lyrical prose, and psychological insight.
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Non-Eater
(summary)
In the following review, Craig criticizes Daughters of the House as “overwrought” and comments that Roberts is “one of those writers who equate obscurity with depth.”
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Edible Imagery
(summary)
In the following review, Broughton argues that the short stories collected in During Mother's Absence are unified by the overarching theme of mother-daughter relationships and provide “an excellent introduction to the central themes of Roberts's fiction.”
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Back to the Womb with a View
(summary)
In the following review, Moore observes that the unusual narrative structure of Flesh and Blood works to blur the boundaries between memory and desire, imagination and reality, conscious and unconscious.
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The Female Tongue
(summary)
In the following review of Flesh and Blood, Alvarez asserts that the complex narrative structure of the novel is ultimately incohesive and frustrating to readers.
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Tales from Paradise
(summary)
In the following review, Cooke asserts that Flesh and Blood is a carefully constructed novel that includes multiple narratives unified by a common thematic focus on issues of eroticism, Catholicism, and feminism.
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The Body's Sacred: Romance and Sacrifice in Religious and Jungian Narratives
(summary)
In the following essay, Rowland discusses the novels Wild Girl and Chymical Wedding, by Lindsay Clark, in terms of Jungian psychology.
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‘Impossible Mourning’ in Toni Morrison's Beloved and Michèle Roberts's Daughters of the House
(summary)
In the following essay, Luckhurst draws on postcolonial theory to find parallels between the novels Daughters of the House and Beloved by Toni Morrison.
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The Relics of Religion
(summary)
In the following review, Tristram comments that Roberts's writing style in Impossible Saints is intense, sensuous, and full of evocative imagery. Tristram discusses how Michèle Roberts parodies and criticizes Catholic Christianity, baffling reader expectations and upsetting literary conventions through the narrative of a nun named Josephine and the interspersed stories of fictional female saints.
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Incest and Holiness
(summary)
In the following review of Impossible Saints, Cowley asserts that Roberts's fictions are overly taken with fanciful flights of the imagination and fail to address the real experience of modern life.
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Influences: Michèle Roberts, Writer and Broadcaster
(summary)
In the following interview, Michèle Roberts and Stephen Brasher explore Roberts's literary influences, political beliefs, and the cultural works she finds essential, highlighting her admiration for figures like Nelson Mandela and Clare Short, while expressing her concerns about religious fundamentalism and her desire for greener urban spaces.
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Double Standard for Women Saints
(summary)
In the following review of Impossible Saints, Giedl comments that Roberts is a skilled storyteller but that the novel is uneven in quality.
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Revolution's Leavings
(summary)
In the following review, Swaab observes that Fair Exchange is intricately plotted with vivid descriptions of women's everyday lives, but that it is overly didactic in conveying its feminist message.
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Food for Puzzled Thought
(summary)
In the following review, Barrow describes Fair Exchange as an “extremely juicy historical romance.” This short and extremely juicy historical romance starts with a French peasant woman called Louise summoning a priest. She has something dreadful to confess about her early life. Only at the end of the novel do we learn her terrible secret.
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Feminist Ethical Reading Strategies in Michèle Roberts's In the Red Kitchen: Hysterical Reading and Making Theory Hysterical
(summary)
In the following essay, Rowland asserts that Roberts utilizes a social realist narrative in her novel In the Red Kitchen to make feminist ethical claims.
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From House to Home: A Kristevan Reading of Michèle Roberts's Daughters of the House
(summary)
In the following essay, Parker draws on the feminist theories of Julia Kristeva in an analysis of Roberts's novel Daughters of the House.
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A Poet and a Mermaid
(summary)
In the following review of The Looking Glass, Harman praises Roberts for vivid, sensuous prose that portrays the drama and humor of everyday life.
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On the Novels of Colette
(summary)
In the following essay, Roberts discusses the influence of French novelist Colette on her own life and fiction.
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Women, Spiritualism and Depth Psychology in Michèle Roberts's Victorian Novel
(summary)
In the following essay, Rowland asserts that Roberts's works of historical fiction represent an extension of academic feminist research that challenges traditional history and add a feminist perspective to the historical record.
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During Mother's Absence: The Fiction of Michèle Roberts
(summary)
In the following essay, Hanson discusses the recurring theme of mother-daughter relationships in Roberts's novels and short stories.
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Food and Manners: Roberts and Ellis
(summary)
In the following essay, Sceats discusses the significance of food and cooking to the creation of female identity in the fiction of Roberts and Alice Thomas Ellis.
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A Soubrette among the Espaliers
(summary)
In the following review, Joughin observes that the stories in Playing Sardines include many of Roberts's recurring themes but comments that the stories are underdeveloped.
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Cookery Lessons
(summary)
In the following review, Duncker observes that the motif of cooking and eating unites the stories in Playing Sardines.
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Suddenly Last Summer
(summary)
In the following review, Maristed argues that The Looking Glass expresses an immediacy and intimacy unusual in historical novels and asserts that the book contains exciting narrative structure, rich imagery, and deep explorations of character.
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A Dance to the Music of London
(summary)
In the following review, Lively offers a positive assessment of The Mistressclass, praising Roberts's “meticulous creation of a time and a place.”
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Uncle Kingsley
(summary)
- Further Reading