Product Description

Mrs Hawkins, a fat young war widow worked for a mad, near-bankrupt publisher in 1950s London. Looking back on shady literary doings and a deadly enemy, anonymous letters, blackmail and suicide, the thin and successful Mrs Hawkins recalls how she came through it all.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #891114 in Books
• Published on: 2000-10-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

Customer Reviews

No half portions here - read in full
This is one of those books that cannot described in a nutshell. If you had to hazard a guess at a description, you'd have to place it firmly in the comedy/ tragedy/ drama/ mystery/ romance section, or simply file it under Spark: Muriel in the Classics section.

Narrated by the once round and central character, Agnes Hawkins (a.k.a. Mrs. Hawkins or Nancy), the story revolves around her experiences as a young widow living in furnished rooms in a semi-detached building in South Kensington. She colorfully describes her neighbors and acquaintances, and gives us tantalizing glimpses into their little secret worlds, in which she is a trustee and confidante.

Despite the mysterious black boxes and the lurking threat of enemies, known and unknown, our heroine manages to keep her head above water, remains a pillar of strength and finds true love among the rubble. Thanks to her diet plan (freely given to the reader as a bonus for purchasing the book), she gains new self-respect, and reinvents herself in a new country, a far cry from her humble beginnings.

A simple classic by an inspired writer.

^AR

One of Spark's best novels - witty, dark, totally credible
Muriel Spark's prose is colourful and precise, and in 'A Far Cry From Kensington', she marries an engaging plot with a razor-sharp observational style. The utterly credible character of Mrs. Hawkins guides us through Milly's boarding house with a refreshingly high degree of common sense, enabling the reader to become utterly embroiled in the mystery of Wanda's persecutor. The dialogue is so highly charged that you may find yourself re-reading chapters again and again, just in case you have missed a vital clue to the identity of the blackmailer.

second reading even better than the first
This slim novel contains a simple yet mesmerising story. I picked it back off my shelf after reading Muriel Sparks obituary - what an amazing life and writer. I remember loving this book the first time round - how you get to explore 1950's london with the 'looks can be deceiving' Mrs Hawkins, you find your self in the parks and old pre-renovated buildings surrounded by well spun characters. Mrs Hawkins is a wise and wry voice within, she can see right through the pretense and ever so nicely puts bad behaviour in its place - she is your classic reason for never judging a book by its cover. On finishing this beloved book for the second time (8 years after the first) I posted it to my friend in Australia, a writer who will once again walk the streets of London in Sparks evocative little piece of perfection.