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Author

Muriel Spark

Muriel Spark (1918-2006) was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. She was the author of over twenty novels, including The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, as well as critical biographies, radio plays, children's books, poetry, and short-story collections. She was made a Dame of the British Empire in 1993 and a Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres in 1996. Spark received the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1965 for The Mandelbaum Gate, the US Ingersoll Foundation TS Eliot Award in 1992 and the David Cohen Prize in 1997. She became an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1967 and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1993 for services to literature. She was twice shortlisted for the Booker Prize, in 1969 for The Public Image and in 1981 for Loitering with Intent.[22] In 1998, she was awarded the Golden PEN Award by English PEN for a "Lifetime's Distinguished Service to Literature".[23] Spark received eight honorary doctorates including Doctor of the University degree (Honoris causa) from her alma mater, Heriot-Watt University in 1995;[24] a Doctor of Humane Letters (Honoris causa) from the American University of Paris in 2005; and Honorary Doctor of Letters degrees from the Universities of Aberdeen, Edinburgh, London, Oxford, St Andrews and Strathclyde.[25] In 2008, The Times ranked Spark as No. 8 in its list of "the 50 greatest British writers since 1945".[26] In 2010, Spark was posthumously shortlisted for the Lost Man Booker Prize of 1970 for The Driver's Seat.

Search Results

Title:

A Far Cry From Kensington

Written by:

Muriel Spark 

Read by:

Juliet Stevenson 

Format:

Unabridged CD Audio Book 

Number of CDs:

5 

Duration:

6 hours 11 minutes 

Published:

June 01 2020 

Available Date:

June 01 2020 

Age Category:

Adult 

ISBN:

9780655669609 

Genres:

Fiction; Literary Fiction 

Publisher:

Bolinda/Canongate audio 

Qty

Format

Price

Bolinda price

AUD$ 29.95

AUD$ 29.95

**

 

Set on the crazier fringes of 1950s literary London, A Far Cry from Kensington is a delight, hilariously portraying love, fraud, death, evil, and transformation.

First published in 1988 and described by Ali Smith as ‘one of Muriel Spark’s most liberating, and meditative novels’ – A Far Cry from Kensington shows Muriel Spark at the mature height of her powers. The narrator is one Mrs. Hawkins. She writes from Italy, a far cry from Kensington indeed, taking us back to her threadbare years in postwar London. As a young, rather fat war-widow she spent her days working for a crazy, almost bankrupt publisher, and her nights offering advice from her boarding-house in South Kensington. In both locations our heroine soon uncovered difficulties: shady literary dealing, anonymous letters, blackmail and even suicide. Whilst Mrs. Hawkins innocently, confidently put about setting things right, she could little imagine the ensuing mayhem and consequences. Now many decades older, thinner, and pleased with her situation in Italy, Mrs. Hawkins reflects on all those dark happenings, recounting how her own life changed forever.

'I was in heaven reading this book. I think she writes like an angel ... just blissful.'
Stephen Fry

‘Wonderfully entertaining – full of absurd, comical, engaging characters and written with typical wit, elegance and aplomb.’
Sunday Telegraph