Margaret Thatcher in literature

carve

I shall not be shedding any tears for Margaret Thatcher. I think that she did untold harm to this country and the day she was kicked out by her own party, despite the fact that she had never lost an election, was a good day. A while ago, I compiled a a list of Thatcher novels, i.e. those novels that feature her in some way. Two stand out. Jonathan Coe‘s What a Carve Up! (US: The Winshaw Legacy) is a superb indictment of her administration, witty, skilfully written and a wonderful novel. J G Ballard‘s Running Wild shows the dark side of Thatcherism in a way that no other writer could. If you want to read about her legacy, read these two novels. And remember that David Cameron, despite his smooth charm, is her political grandson (her political son, of course, is Tony Blair). And here is a quote to show what she was like. On receiving a school prize, aged nine, she commented I wasn’t lucky. I deserved it. Bu we didn’t deserve her.

Leave a comment