The Girls of Slender Means - Muriel Spark

I struggle to believe I didn't even know who Muriel Spark was until about a year ago (in case anyone needed further proof of how far behind I am in terms of English Literature 101!).

Like the other books by Muriel Spark that I have had the pleasure to read, The Girls of Slender Means is witty, accessible and deep. The fact that the lives of the main characters remind me of my years as a student on a tight budget makes the book even more endearing to me.

As usual, one of the big strengths for me is the way in which Spark paints the lives of common people with an ironic (and at times slightly surreal) take. Because of the size of her books and the themes covered, Spark very much reminds me of Beryl Bainbridge.

The book also achieved something seemingly impossible: it made me like (at least the fictional) West London!

The Ballad of Peckham Rye - Muriel Spark

My wonderful employer gives us 100£ every year to spend on books that help us do our job - I argued that for my workshops on London I need to get ideas from books set in the city. Surprisingly, this long short worked (and thanks to Amazon I now have 20 extra books or so that should see me through the summer).

The Ballad of Peckham Rye made me really happy - it's not exactly great literature, but seeing the problems caused by immigrants (Scottish and Irish) that nowadays are no longer considered immigrants was truly interesting. Disclaimer - I'm an immigrant myself, though I have British nationality now because, you know, short-sighted policies, decisions, referenda etc.

Most of all, however, the book reminded me of how I love being able to visualize the places were a novel is set, and how wackily funny life can be in South London.