Book Review: The Dark Flood Rises by Margaret Drabble

Not the cheeriest of novels, The Dark Flood Rises is a meditation on old age and inevitable death.

The story centres around Francesca, an active, but elderly woman who researches living conditions for those not too much older than herself.

She’s trying to come to terms with death, as well as the pain and indignities that come with old age. But the reader doesn’t just have the benefit of her perspective, as The Millstone author Margaret Drabble interweaves the views and experiences of a host of different characters.

This includes Francesca’s bedridden, bon vivant ex-husband, her best friend who has moved to sheltered accommodation and an old academic, who is living out the remainder of his life in the idyllic Canary Islands.

It would be easy for this novel to stray into maudlin territory, but Drabble, now 77 and on her 19th novel, is skilful at creating brilliantly drawn, three-dimensional characters.

This is no fast-paced thriller, but it’s a thought-provoking, witty and surprisingly acerbic read.