Like a Cat Loves a Bird - by James Bailey (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

"A deeply stylish, astute, and illuminating portrait of a fascinating writer."--Francesca Wade, author of Gertrude Stein: An Afterlife

A spiky and delicious new literary portrait of the great twentieth-century British author of beloved novels such as The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and The Girls of Slender Means

"She was, if you believe what you read in the papers: a genius, a survivor, a bad mother, a fickle friend, a closeted lesbian, a tyrant, a loner, an eccentric, a recluse, a gossip, and an arch-manipulator. She would politely encourage you not to believe what you read in the papers."--from Like a Cat Loves a Bird

Muriel Spark (1918-2006) was one of literature's great shapeshifters. That mercurial quality is found in her strange, brilliant, cruel novels--with their plots featuring a cast of elderly characters receiving telephone calls from Death, the devil going clubbing in Peckham, and a fascist schoolmistress leading her coterie of girls astray--but it is also true of her as a person. As sly, nimble, and elegant as Spark's own work, Like a Cat Loves a Bird offers a thrilling new perspective on a remarkable life and career that spanned much of the twentieth century.

From Spark's childhood in Edinburgh to her final years in Tuscany--via South Africa, London, New York, and Rome--James Bailey traces a light-footed journey around the world and through the novelist's strange and magnificent books. The result is an irresistible story of transformation, wit, and fierce determination--and a passionate case for this vital modern artist.

Review Quotes

"A reverent and engrossing look at Spark's peripatetic life. . . . [James Bailey's] clearly a fan, and readers unfamiliar with Spark's work will be, too, after reading this excellent book."---Michael Magras, Shelf Awareness

"[Bailey] has great fun in exploring possibilities, imagining scenarios, creating scenes and celebrating [Spark's] enigmatic writing. Still, there are facts here, and you will learn a lot, not only about Spark, but about the changing (and depressingly persistent) sensibilities of the 20th century"---Vikki Reilly, Scotland on Sunday

"Astute . . . a welcome addition for anyone caught in the mental claws of one of the most elusive and brilliant writers of modern times"---Martin Chilton, Independent

"Clever ... Spark's nine lives, also presented as a "series of flickering sparks", neatly capture both the slipperiness and the picaresque quality of this most elusive of subjects ... [Bailey's] Spark is a likeable monster and his wit and playfulness are well suited to his subject. He is a good close reader and this is a biography that will delight those who admire Spark's 22 novels and intrigue those who are new readers or who know only The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie"---Paula Byrne, The Times

"Inventive not inventing ... Bailey's approach isn't a conventional "life" so much as a hybrid of literary criticism, personal appreciation and a novel"---David Robinson, The Scotsman

About the Author

James Bailey is a writer and researcher who holds a PhD in literature and is the author of Muriel Spark's Early Fiction.