Product Description

In Muriel Spark's fantastic first novel, the only things that aren't ambiguous are her matchless originality and glittering wit. Caroline Rose is plagued by the tapping of typewriter keys and the strange, detached narration of her every thought and action. She has an unusual problem - she realises she is in a novel. Her fellow characters are also possibly deluded: Laurence, her former lover, finds diamonds in a loaf of bread - could his elderly grandmother really be a smuggler? And Baron Stock, her bookseller friend, believes he is on the trail of England's leading Satanist.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #567737 in Books
• Published on: 2001-09-27
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 208 pages

Customer Reviews

completely weird
I have been reading my way through all of Muriel Spark, finding that there is enormous variation between the ones I like and the ones that make me raise an eyebrow and go, "errr...?"

This is one of the latter, a very strange book, which is reminiscent to me of one of the darkest Ealing comedies. A granny who smuggle diamonds in bread (yes, I did keep thinking of Alec Guiness in drag), an assortment of odd people, and most of all the weird Caroline Rose who keeps hearing voices which indicate she knows the novel is being written about her.

At this point, we are suddenly into fiercely post-modern, self-aware, Italo Calvino territory. You may really enjoy it, I found it off-puttingly strange. And I do enjoy a lot of post-modern fiction, but this is such a weird mix of that and a rather English comic novel. Anyway, she was clearly defiantly trying to do something new, from her very first publication, and that I really admire. Even when you are not enjoying her books, there is that strength and intelligence in them which you cannot help but revere.

One of Spark's best
Definitely one of the most original novels I have ever read and would thoroughly recommend to anyone new to Spark.