A Whistling Woman Explained

A Whistling Woman
Author:A. S. Byatt
Country:United Kingdom (2002)
United States (2002)
Language:English
Series:Frederica Potter Quartet #4
Genre:Literary fiction
Publisher:Chatto & Windus (UK)
Alfred A. Knopf (US)
Media Type:Print (paperback, hardcover), ebook
Pages:422 pp
(UK paperback 1st ed.)
Isbn:9780701173807
Dewey:823/.914
Congress:PR6052.Y2 W48 2003
Oclc:59489476
Preceded By:Babel Tower
Pub Date:September 2002
Isbn Note:
(UK paperback 1st ed.)

A Whistling Woman is a 2002 novel by British writer A. S. Byatt. The novel was published by Chatto & Windus in 2002 and in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf, another division of Penguin.

Tetralogy naming

The novel is the final in a tetralogy, preceded by The Virgin in the Garden (1978), Still Life (1985), and Babel Tower (1996).[1] Jonathan Walker, in a paper published by Contemporary Literature, referred to the series of books as the "Frederica quartet".[2] Byatt herself expressed a preference for The Virgin in the Garden quartet when speaking about it ("It isn't Frederica's book--though she's the sort of person who would muscle in and try to take it!") and noted her publisher's intention to produce a boxed set, simply titled The Quartet.[3]

Themes

Byatt has said the novel is "about utopianism...and a dangerous sort of mystical romanticism".[4]

A Whistling Woman is half dedicated to Frances Ashcroft.[3]

Notes and References

  1. Yeazell . Ruth Bernard . Overindulgence . London Review of Books . 28 November 2002 . 24 . 23 . 1 November 2022 . en . 0260-9592.
  2. Walker . Jonathan . Byatt . A. S. . Norfolk . Lawrence . An Interview with A. S. Byatt and Lawrence Norfolk . Contemporary Literature . 2006 . 47 . 3 . 319–342 . 10.3368/cl.47.3.319 . 4489165 . 1 November 2022 . 0010-7484.
  3. An interview with A. S. Byatt. Cercles. Jenny. Newman. James. Friel. 2003. 11 September 2010. ASB: ... I remember sitting at high table with my friend, Professor Frances Ashcroft, to whom A Whistling Woman is half dedicated... The whole of The Virgin in the Garden quartet is about the desirability of an androgynous mind... JN & JF: I notice that the quartet which begins with The Virgin in the Garden is sometimes called The Frederica Quartet. ASB: My paperback publisher, you will be glad to hear, is going to make it a boxed set, and it's just going to be called The Quartet. It isn't Frederica's book--though she's the sort of person who would muscle in and try to take it!.
  4. News: Leith . Sam . Interview: AS Byatt . 1 November 2022 . The Guardian . 24 April 2009 . en.