Electric Spark : the enigma of Dame Muriel / Frances Wilson.
| Author/creator | Wilson, Frances, 1964- author. |
| Format | Book |
| Edition | First American edition. |
| Publication | New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2025. |
| Copyright Date | ©2025 |
| Description | xi, 408 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm |
| Subjects |
| Contents | A note on names -- Preface: the end -- Curriculum vitae -- Mary Stuart. Edinburgh -- Africa -- Marie Stopes. Milton Bryan -- The poetry society -- Mary Shelley. Howard Sergeant -- Derek Stanford -- Mary Stranger. Conversion -- The comforters -- Afterword: the beginning |
| Abstract | "Award-winning biographer Frances Wilson presents an exhilarating new look at Muriel Spark, the most consummate artist of the twentieth century"-- Provided by publisher. |
| Abstract | "'Is the story fact? Is it fiction? It is what it is,' said Muriel Spark. Muriel Spark was a puzzle, and so too are her books. She dealt in word games, tricks, and ciphers; her life was composed of weird accidents, strange coincidences, and spooky events. Evelyn Waugh thought she was a saint, Bernard Levin said she was a witch, and she described herself as 'Muriel the Marvel with her X-ray eyes.' By following the clues, riddles, and instructions Spark planted for posterity in her biographies, fiction, autobiography, and archives, Frances Wilson aims to crack her code. Electric Spark explores not the celebrated Dame Muriel but the apprentice mage discovering her powers. It takes us through her early years, when turmoil reigned: divorce, madness, murder, espionage, poverty, skullduggery, blackmail, love affairs, revenge, and a major religious conversion. If this sounds like a novel by Spark, it is because her experiences in the 1940s and 1950s became, alchemically distilled, the material of her art." -- Adapted from publisher's description. |
| General note | "Originally published in 2025 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, Great Britain as Electric Spark: The Enigma of Muriel Spark"--Colophon. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references (pages 355-390) and index. |
| Genre/form | Biographies. |
| Genre/form | Biographies. |
| LCCN | 2025003919 |
| ISBN | 9780374613204 hardcover |
| ISBN | 0374613206 hardcover |
Availability
| Library | Location | Call Number | Status | Item Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joyner | General Stacks | PR6037 .P29 Z98 2025 | ✔ Available | Place Hold |