The Gates of Ivory
- 1 May 2014
- 9781782114383
- £7.19
- 480 pp
In a few words
The sequel to The Radiant Way and A Natural Curiosity
A compelling voyage into the heart of darkness
Drabble raises much to think about; her picture of Cambodia is scrupulously researched and deeply felt
More about
the book
Now available for the first time in eBook.
‘While opening her post one dark morning, Liz Headleand was surprised to come across a package containing part of a human finger bone.’
When Liz Headleand receives a mysterious package full of papers – and a bone – she calmly recognises the handwriting of her old friend, the delicate, reticent, honourable novelist Stephen Cox who had vanished some years earlier. Sifting through the gaps and inconsistencies of memory, she begins to piece together a trail that took Stephen far away – to a bridge over a river on the border between Thailand and Cambodia and a time full of complexity and confusion.
In this sequel to The Radiant Way and A Natural Curiosity, friends Liz, Alix and Esther are brought together again as they unravel Stephen’s journey from London to Bangkok and Cambodia and the haunting story of what happened to him.
Artfully constructed and at times mordantly funny
Piquant characterization, wonderful dialogue and brainy, skillful writing
An engrossing story, very well told
Interesting, detailed, amusing and horrifying by turns
Margaret Drabble
View profileDame Margaret Drabble was born in Sheffield in 1939 and was educated at Newnham College, Cambridge. She is the author of eighteen highly acclaimed novels including A Summer Bird-Cage, The Millstone, winner of the John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize, The Peppered Moth, The Red Queen and most recently The Sea Lady and The Pure Gold Baby. She has also written biographies, screenplays and was the editor of the Oxford Companion to English Literature. She was appointed CBE in 1980, and made DBE in the 2008 Honours list. She was also awarded the 2011 Golden PEN Award for a Lifetime’s Distinguished Service to Literature. She is married to the biographer Michael Holroyd.
