Recommendations from our site
“The book focuses on the younger Muriel Spark. It’s actually very funny in places. Muriel Spark ran the Poetry Society for a while after the war, and the character sketches of the male poets of that time—men in ill-fitting corduroys thinking they could dominate or seduce this very vivacious, attractive woman… At every stage, she has to fight her way through against these slightly lechy, ridiculous men. Then there’s her service during the war at Bletchley Park. Frances Wilson uses that wartime experience of helping crack German messages to talk about Muriel Spark’s love of puzzles, of codes, of secrecy. When you go back and read her novels, you do see bits of trickery and things withheld. Blackmail appears in them a lot. Of the six books on the shortlist, this is probably the funniest. Frances Wilson is a very witty writer, and Muriel Spark had a very offbeat sense of humor. So there are bits that are terribly amusing.” Read more...
The Best Nonfiction Books of 2025: The Baillie Gifford Prize Shortlist
Robbie Millen, Journalist
