The Girls of Slender Means
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| Author | Muriel Spark |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | George Salter[2] (US edition) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Knopf (US) Macmillan (UK) |
|
Publication date
|
1963 |
| Media type | Print & Audio |
| Pages | 176 (US) |
| OCLC | 366910 |
The Girls of Slender Means is a novella written in 1963 by Scottish author Muriel Spark. It was included in Anthony Burgess's 1984 book Ninety-Nine Novels: The Best in English since 1939 — A Personal Choice .[3]
Plot introduction
It is set in 'The May of Teck Club', established by Princess May of Teck during the First World War[4] "for the Pecuniary Convenience and Social Protection of Ladies of Slender Means below the age of Thirty Years, who are obliged to reside apart from their Families in order to follow an Occupation in London". It concerns the lives and loves of its desperate residents amongst the deprivations of immediate post-war Kensington between VE Day and VJ Day in 1945. The frame story, set in 1963, concerns the news that Nicholas Farringdon, an anarchist intellectual turned Jesuit, has been killed in Haiti. Journalist Jane Wright, a former inhabitant of the Club, wants to research the backstory of the priest's martyrdom. The bulk of the novella is taken up by flashbacks to 1945, concerning Farringdon and the Club. The narrative slowly builds up to the unfolding of a tragedy that killed Joanna Childe, the elocution instructor, and led to Farringdon's conversion through the evil heartlessness he perceived in Selina's behavior.
Film adaptation
In 1975, the book was adapted for television by Ken Taylor, starring among others Patricia Hodge, Miriam Margolyes and Suzy Mandel.
References
- ↑ http://www.bertramrota.co.uk/detail.php?id=12368
- ↑ http://www.alibris.com/booksearch.detail?invId=10191968271&siteID=C1i_jBRO_0s-y7IMjiJ7OOsnCWI.6py2Fw
- ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/books/97/11/30/home/burgess-bestnovels.html?_r=1
- ↑ Scullion, Val. "The Girls of Slender Means". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 20 October 2002.
External links
- Guardian review
- NYTimes review
- Lua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 28: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). The Girls of Slender Means at IMDb
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