In reading Margaret Drabble’s latest novel, The Pure Gold Baby, ‘sometimes, you stumble across a sentence so exact and lyrical it stops you short,’ says the Guardian.

‘In some ways her current novel resembles a jigsaw; its ambitious themes of parenthood, innocence, wounded children, anthropology, literature, madness, ageing, illness and love juxtaposed to form, if not quite a coherent pattern, then something tantalisingly close to it,’ says the Telegraph.

The Daily Mail calls The Pure Gold Baby ‘a magnificent novel that confirms Drabble’s status as a national treasure,’ while the Spectator agrees that Drabble’s ‘distinctive narrative voice and soaring prose remain electrifying.’

‘The core of the novel seems to be motherhood, and how we treat disability and vulnerability. But this is not enough for Drabble’s restless imagination, her fierce engagement with the ever-­changing cultural mores of the late 20th century,’ says the Herald Scotland. ‘Drabble writes frankly and penetratingly about all the trappings of her generation’s intellectual and social life,’ confirms the Crikey blog Culture Mulcher.

‘This is a book by a master writer with a lifetime’s writing behind her,’ says the Sydney Morning Herald; The Pure Gold Baby has reminded ANZ LitLovers‘ Lisa Hill 'what a great writer Margaret Drabble is’.

‘It’s the finest book conclusion I’ve read in a long time,’ says PopMatters.

The Pure Gold Baby is available now in bookshops and online.