A Far Cry From Kensington

I can't help it. Sometimes the words just come out and I can't stop them. It feels like preaching the gospel.

When publishing assistant and war widow Nancy Hawkins tells Hector Bartlett he 'urinates frightful prose', the repercussions are swift. Losing not one, but two, much-sought-after literary jobs, Mrs Hawkins finds herself embroiled in a mystery involving anonymous letters, quack remedies and blackmail. Years later, and a far cry from Kensington, she looks back with a sharp and mischievous eye at the cost of telling the truth.

Introduced by Ali Smith.

'Mercurially funny, playful and mischievous' Ali Smith

'I was in heaven reading this book. . . just blissful' Stephen Fry

'Funny, astringent, shrewd, her take on life is wonderfully bracing' William Boyd

'Wonderfully entertaining' Sunday Telegraph

'An outstanding novel . . . A Far Cry From Kensington has an effortless, translucent grasp of the spirit of the period' Observer

'The divine Spark is shining at her brightest . . . Pure delight' Claire Tomalin

The divine Spark is shining at her brightest . . . Pure delight Claire Tomalin, INDEPENDENT
An outstanding novel . . . A FAR CRY FROM KENSINGTON has an effortless, translucent grasp of the spirit of the period OBSERVER
'Wonderfully entertaining - full of absurd, comical, engaging characters and written with typical wit, elegance and aplomb SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
One of Muriel Spark's most liberating, liberated and meditative novels. Spark is a writer who can take the meditative and make it mercurially funny, playful and mischievous Ali Smith

Muriel Spark, D.B.E, C. Litt, was born in Edinburgh in 1918. A poet and novelist, she also wrote children's books, radio plays, a comedy, 'Doctors of Philosophy', first performed in London in 1962, and biographies. She is best known for her stories and many successful novels, including Memento Mori, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Loitering With Intent, The Comforters, A Far Cry from Kensington and The Public Image. For her long career of literary achievement, Muriel Spark won international praise and many awards, including the David Cohen British Literature Award, the T. S. Eliot Award, the Saltire Prize, the Boccaccio Prize for European Literature, the Gold Pen Award and the Italia Prize for dramatic radio. Muriel Spark was given an honorary doctorate of Letters from a number of universities, London, Edinburgh and Oxford among these. She died in 2006.

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