Muriel Spark

1918–2006

Scottish novelist, poet and critic known for compact, sharply ironic fiction. Born Muriel Camberg in Edinburgh, she lived in Southern Rhodesia after her marriage, worked in intelligence during the Second World War and edited Poetry Review from 1947. She became a Roman Catholic in 1954, and her first novel, The Comforters, appeared in 1957. Later books include The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, The Mandelbaum Gate and The Driver’s Seat. She was made a dame in 1993, settled in Tuscany and died in April 2006. Loitering with Intent was shortlisted for the 1981 Booker Prize.

Timeline of Muriel Spark’s life

Works

• Loitering with Intent (1981)

Prizes

• Loitering with Intent — The Booker Prize 1981: Shortlist