{"product_id":"9781526659125","title":"Held : Shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2024","description":"\u003cp\u003eA Times, Telegraph, Financial Times, Observer, Guardian and Tablet Book of the Summer'Absolutely mesmerising. I was possessed by this book in the same way that I suspect its author was possessed by Spark. It still hasn’t put me down' SPECTATOR'Unputdownable' FINANCIAL TIMES'Joyously, brilliantly intelligent. In Wilson, Spark has met her true match' ANNE ENRIGHTFrom one of our leading biographers and critics comes an exhilarating, landmark new look at Muriel Spark.   The word most commonly used to describe Muriel Spark is ‘puzzling’. 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’. 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. We return to her early years when everything was piled on: divorce, madness, murder, espionage, poverty, skulduggery, blackmail, love affairs, revenge, and a major religious conversion. If this sounds like a novel by Muriel Spark it is because the experiences of the 1940s and 1950s became, alchemically reduced, the material of her art.   *A 2025 HIGHLIGHT FOR: Telegraph, Financial Times, Guardian, Observer and Scotsman*'A brilliant, wonderfully shrewd biography' WILLIAM BOYD'Pitch-perfect, electrifying. Reconfirms Wilson's pre-eminence as Maestra of British biography' RACHEL HOLMES\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"product__accordion accordion quick-add-hidden\"\u003e\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003cdetails id=\"Details-collapsible_tab_dDVEeR-template--25151688147283__main\"\u003e\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003csummary role=\"button\" aria-expanded=\"true\" aria-controls=\"ProductAccordion-collapsible_tab_dDVEeR-template--25151688147283__main\"\u003e\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003cdiv class=\"summary__title\"\u003e\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003ch2 class=\"h4 accordion__title inline-richtext\"\u003e\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tProduct Information\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003c\/h2\u003e\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003csvg class=\"icon icon-caret\" viewbox=\"0 0 10 6\"\u003e\u003cpath fill=\"currentColor\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M9.354.646a.5.5 0 0 0-.708 0L5 4.293 1.354.646a.5.5 0 0 0-.708.708l4 4a.5.5 0 0 0 .708 0l4-4a.5.5 0 0 0 0-.708\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\"\u003e\u003c\/path\u003e\u003c\/svg\u003e\r\n\t\t\u003c\/summary\u003e\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003cdiv class=\"accordion__content rte\" id=\"ProductAccordion-collapsible_tab_dDVEeR-template--25151688147283__main\"\u003e\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"metafield-multi_line_text_field\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Frances Wilson\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eBinding:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardback\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eDate of Publication:\u003c\/b\u003e 05\/06\/2025\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003ePagination:\u003c\/b\u003e 432 pages\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eSeries:\u003c\/b\u003e N\/A\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eImprint:\u003c\/b\u003e Bloomsbury Circus\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003ePublished By:\u003c\/b\u003e Bloomsbury Publishing PLC\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eBook Classification:\u003c\/b\u003e Europe\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/b\u003e 242 x 163 x 39\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eISBN13\/EAN\/SKU:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781526663030\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\u003c\/div\u003e\r\n\t\t\t\t\u003c\/details\u003e\r\n\t\t\t\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Frances Wilson","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53358497333634,"sku":"9781526659125","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0568\/2180\/9347\/files\/9781526659125_4d283c22-42d4-40fa-971c-1d75a74f8614.jpg?v=1758363423","url":"https:\/\/mountfloridabooks.live\/products\/9781526659125","provider":"Mount Florida Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}