639. The Driver's Seat

The Driver's Seat
Muriel Spark
1970
Around 180 pages

Unfortunately, we must now say goodbye to our bright Spark in the darkness, our good friend Muriel. Here's my official ranking of her work:

1. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

2. The Driver's Seat

3. Memento Mori

4. The Girls of Slender Means

So as you can see, The Driver's Seat is sitting pretty, although all of her novels are bangers. This is one of those stories that I'm reluctant to reveal any details about, as it's such a strange plot. Suffice to say, Lise is a confrontational woman who resolves to go on a great vacation and find the man of her dreams.

This is a very gripping and sick novella, which again is hard to discuss without spoilers. I think it is best read in one sitting, for maximum impact. Spark is such a master at pacing and revealing details to the reader at precisely the right time. 

For such a short novel, it really packs a punch. Thanks for joining us Muriel!

RATING: *****

Interesting Facts:

Made in 1974 film starring Elizabeth Taylor.

UP NEXT: The Sea of Fertility by Yukio Mishima

571. The Girls of Slender Means

The Girl of Slender Means
Muriel Spark
1963
Around 180 pages

Thank, Muriel, for the welcome interruption. Yes, 1963 has been a tough year. No, you're lovely!

Ahem, anyway, I really needed this. This novel concerns the fictitious May of Teck Club, which was established "for the Pecuniary Convenience and Social Protection of Ladies of Slender Means below the age of Thirty Years, who are obliged to reside apart from their Families in order to follow an Occupation in London." Quite a title.  Present day, Jane Wright, a former resident of the club, wants to do a story on the recent death of Nicholas Farringdon, an anarchist recently killed in Haiti. We get flashbacks to the 1945, when Farringdon was a frequent visitor of the Club.

I would love to see a television series that focused on these ladies during their residency. I still like the story we got though, Spark is very efficient with her use of language. I'm glad she gets her fair share of entries on the List.

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

In 2022, it was included on the "Big Jubilee Read" list of 70 books by Commonwealth authors, selected to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II.

UP NEXT: The Spy Who Came in From the Cold by John le Carre

554. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
Muriel Spark
1961

Around 170 pages

I wish I had a teacher like Jean Brodie. Besides the whole, you know, pushing her students into bed with a married man part. The closest I had was a geometry teacher who would tell us he was suicidal by making all the math problems about him hanging himself or jumping off a building. Jean definitely sounds cooler.

Jean Brodie believes in educating her students by filling them in on her personal life as much as possible. The six girls that Jean singles out gain notoriety as the "Brodie set" (which is a much more appealing moniker than the Slug Club). Jean is involved in a love triangle between the singing teacher and the married art teacher. We learn early on in the story that one of the Brodie set will betray Jean later in life, who steadily rebukes the stereotype of a schoolmarmish spinster.

Non chronological stories can be confusing, but I appreciated the frequent flash forwards in this novel. They helped set up the main mystery: who betrayed Jean Brodie? I really loved the setting of Edinburgh in the 1930s, and as someone who dreams of being a British school child, I enjoyed the descriptions of academic life in the era.

This is also a definite improvement from Spark's last novel, so I'm excited to watch her continue to sharpen her skills as a writer.

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

In 2005, the novel was chosen by Time magazine as one of the one hundred best English-language novels from 1923 to present.

Jean Brodie was inspired by a teacher of Spark's who encouraged her to write.

UP NEXT: A Severed Head by Iris Murdoch

537. Memento Mori

Memento Mori
Muriel Spark
1959
Around 230 pages

Welcome to the blog Muriel Spark! Female authors are rare on this List, but we are getting a good group together, with Iris Murdoch, Dorothy Sayers, and Elizabeth Bowen. Keep crushing it ladies.

A circle of elderly rich Brits are all receiving the same phone call: a mysterious voice telling them "Remember you must die." However, they all hear a different voice, so some hear the voice as old, some young, some foreign. Understandably, this ruffles the characters' feathers, and some old secrets bubble to the surface.

What a great premise for a story. It almost felt like a prompt I would get in a creative writing class. I enjoyed our crew of characters, who each experience a different reaction to the phone calls. Lettie Colston completely panics, while Godfrey, a serial cheater, gets angry. This was a great entry point for the characters, and she wrapped up the story in a really unique way.

Proof that the lives of the elderly can still be fascinating. I know my twilight years will hold similar intrigue.

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

Adapted into television in 1992 with Maggie Smith.

UP NEXT: Henderson the Rain King by Saul Bellow