{"product_id":"nine-lives-of-muriel-spark","title":"Like a Cat Loves a Bird: The Nine Lives of Muriel Spark","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"This is a deeply stylish, astute and illuminating biography of a fascinating writer\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFRANCESCA WADE, author of Square Haunting\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Utterly charming. A book as elegant, sharp-witted and mischievous as its subject\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCLARE POLLARD, author of Delphi\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Like a Spark novel, the moment my eyes met the page I knew I wouldn't be able to stop reading . . . A magnificent piece of work\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eROBIN INCE\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"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.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMuriel Spark was one of literature's great shapeshifters. That mercurial quality is found in her strange, brilliant, cruel novels - with their plots featuring pensioners 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs sly, nimble and elegant as Spark's own work, Like a Cat Loves a Bird is a thrilling new perspective on a remarkable life and career that spanned much of the twentieth century. From her childhood in Edinburgh to her final years in Tuscany - via South Africa, London, New York and Rome - it traces a light-footed journey around the world and through her strange and magnificent bibliography. It tells an irresistible story of transformation, wit and fierce determination and makes a passionate case for this vital modern artist.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"You don't have to be a Muriel Spark fan to enjoy the sharp wit of Like a Cat Loves a Bird, a fascinating and nuanced exploration of the sacrifices some make to focus on their art\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLUKE TURNER, author of Out of the Woods\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Vital, fun and immediate . . . full of engaging and astute literary analysis of Spark's work as well as scintillating, vivid biography\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFRANCESCA REECE, author of Glass Houses\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"A readable and fascinating book, about an under-appreciated literary giant\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLUCINDA HAWKSLEY, author of The Mystery of Princess Louise\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Unity Books","offers":[{"title":"Nine Lives of Muriel Spark","offer_id":46179382853829,"sku":null,"price":40.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0625\/6679\/3413\/files\/9781399764971.jpg?v=1778532469","url":"https:\/\/unitybooks.myshopify.com\/products\/nine-lives-of-muriel-spark","provider":"Unity Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}