Available Formats
Paperback
Published: 25th May 1989
Hardback
Published: 1st December 2008
Paperback
Published: 1st January 2010
Hardback, Centenary Edition
Published: 14th December 2017
Paperback
Published: 25th February 2025
A Far Cry From Kensington
By (Author) Muriel Spark
Introduction by Ali Smith
Little, Brown Book Group
Virago Press Ltd
1st December 2008
1st May 2008
United Kingdom
General
Fiction
823.914
Hardback
208
Width 135mm, Height 196mm, Spine 20mm
326g
With a cover design by Lucienne Day
When Mrs Hawkins tells Hector Bartlett he is a pisseur de copie , that he urinates frightful prose , little does she realise the repercussions. Holding that no life can be carried on satisfactorily unless people are honest Mrs Hawkins refuses to retract her judgement, and as a consequence, loses not one, but two much-sought-after jobs in publishing.Now, years older, successful, and happily a far cry from Kensington, she looks back over the dark days that followed, in which she was embroiled in a mystery involving anonymous letters, quack remedies, blackmail and suicide.'The divine Spark is shining at her brightest ... Pure delight' Claire Tomalin, INDEPENDENT 'An outstanding novel ... A FAR CRY FROM KENSINGTON has an effortless, transluscent 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 'My admiration for Spark's contribution to world literature knows no bounds. She was peerless, sparkling, inventive and intelligent the creme de la creme' Ian Rankin
Born in Edinburgh, Muriel Spark was internationally famous and received the Italia Prize, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, the FNAC Prix Etranger and the Saltire Prize, among many others. She was elected an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1978 and to L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France in 1988. She died in April 2006.