Electric Spark

<p><b>‘Absolutely mesmerising’ </b><i>SPECTATOR</i><br><b>‘I raced through it’ </b>ALI SMITH, <i>GUARDIAN</i><br><b>‘Unputdownable’ </b><i>FINANCIAL TIMES</i><br><b>‘A fire-starter’ </b><i>NEW YORK TIMES</i><br><b>‘Hypnotic’ </b><i>TLS</i><br><b>‘Joyously, brilliantly intelligent’</b> ANNE ENRIGHT<br><br><b><u>From one of our leading biographers and critics comes an exhilarating, landmark new look at Muriel Spark.</u></b><br><br><b>SHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION</b><br><br><b>A BOOK OF THE YEAR FOR: <i>THE TIMES</i>/<i>SUNDAY TIMES</i>, <i>GUARDIAN</i>, <i>TELEGRAPH</i>, <i>TLS</i>, <i>FINANCIAL TIMES</i>, <i>ECONOMIST</i>, <i>NEW STATESMAN</i>, <i>LONDON STANDARD</i> AND <i>WASHINGTON POST</i></b><br><br>Muriel Spark was a puzzle, and so too were her books. She dealt in word games, tricks and ciphers; her life was composed of weird accidents, strange coincidences and spooky events. In <i>Electric Spark</i>, Frances Wilson aims to finally crack her code.<br><br>We return to Spark’s early years when everything was piled on: divorce, madness, murder, espionage, poverty, skulduggery, blackmail, love affairs, revenge and a major religious conversion. If this sounds like a novel by Muriel Spark it is because her experiences of the 1940s and 1950s became, alchemically reduced, the material of her art.</p>