Dame Margaret Drabble was born in Sheffield in 1939 and was educated at Newnham College, Cambridge. She is the author of eighteen novels including A Summer Bird-Cage , The Millstone , The Peppered Moth , The Red Queen , The Sea Lady and most recently, the highly acclaimed The Pure Gold Baby . She has also written biographies, screenplays and was the editor of the Oxford Companion to English Literature . She was appointed CBE in 1980, and made DBE in the 2008 Honours list. She was also awarded the 2011 Golden PEN Award for a Lifetime's Distinguished Service to Literature. She is married to the biographer Michael Holroyd.