Penelope Fitzgerald

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Penelope Fitzgerald Criticism

Penelope Fitzgerald (1916–2000) was a distinguished English novelist and biographer whose works are celebrated for their understated style and meticulously crafted prose. Her novels often reflect her personal experiences and are characterized by their precise, economical use of language to depict authentic characters and settings. Among her acclaimed works, Offshore, which won the Booker Prize in 1979, authentically captures the life of a transient houseboat community on the Thames, drawing from Fitzgerald's own life experiences. Critics such as Hermione Lee praise this novel for its stylish restraint, although John Ryle suggests a sentimental attachment that occasionally undermines its depth.

Contents

  • Principal Works
  • Fitzgerald, Penelope (Vol. 143)
    • Two Bicycles, One Spirit
    • A Still, Small Voice: The Novels of Penelope Fitzgerald
    • Tradition and Some Individual Talents
    • Death and the Maiden
    • Seen and Unseen
    • The Professor and the Flower
    • Dark Fates
    • The Blue Flower
    • Petals on the Wind
    • Paradise in a Dream
    • Elements of Compression in the Novels of Penelope Fitzgerald
    • Love in the Time of Tuberculosis
    • Looking Backward
    • The Blue Flower
    • The Sweet Smell of Success
    • Penelope Fitzgerald: A Voice amidst the Blitz
    • The Fact Artist
    • A Listener’s Guide
  • Fitzgerald, Penelope (Vol. 19)
    • Suburbanity
    • Suffocating Suffolk
    • War Wounds
    • Down by the Thames
    • New Music
    • Between Land and Water
    • A Water-Colour Novel
    • Winners and Misfits
    • The Isle Full of Noises
    • BBC Seraglio
    • Five of the Best: New Fiction
  • Further Reading