Her promising career in 1960s London interrupted by an affair with a married professor that renders her a single mother, anthropology student Jessica Speight faces wrenching questions about responsibility, potential and compassion when her sunny child reveals unique needs. By the renowned author of The Sea Lady. 30,000 first printing. Her promising career in 1960s London interrupted by an affair with a married professor that renders her a single mother, Jessica Speight faces wrenching questions about responsibility and compassion when her sunny child reveals her unique needs. "Achingly wise . . . Admirers of Marilynne Robinson will find themselves very much at home in this book." —Wall Street JournalJessica Speight, an anthropologist in 1960s London, is at the beginning of a promising academic career when an affair leaves her a single mother. Anna is delightful—a pure gold baby. But as it becomes clear that Anna is not a normal child, the book circles questions of responsibility, potential, even age, with Margaret Drabble’s characteristic intelligence and wit. Told from the point of view of Jesss fellow mothers,The Pure Gold Baby is a movingly intimate look at the unexpected transformations at the heart of motherhood. The first new novel in five years from "one of the most versatile and accomplished writers of her generation" (Joyce Carol Oates,The New Yorker)
