Audiobooks by Muriel Spark

Set on the crazier fringes of 1950s literary London, A Far Cry from Kensington is a delight, hilariously portraying love, fraud, death, evil, and transformation. Mrs. Hawkins, the majestic narrator of A Far Cry from Kensington, takes us well in hand and leads us back to her threadbare years in postwar London. There, as a fat and much admired young war widow, she spent her days working for a mad, near-bankrupt publisher ('of very good books') and her nights dispensing advice at her small South Kensington rooming house. At work and at home Mrs. Hawkins soon uncovered evil: shady literary doings and a deadly enemy; anonymous letters, blackmail, and suicide. With aplomb, however, Mrs. Hawkins confidently set about putting things to order, little imagining the mayhem that would ensue. Now decades older, thin, successful, and delighted with life in Italy'quite a far cry from Kensington'Mrs. Hawkins looks back to all those dark doings and recounts how her own life changed forever. She still, however, loves to give advice: 'It's easy to get thin. You eat and drink the same as always, only half'I offer this advice without fee; it is included in the price of this book.' A Far Cry from Kensington has been hailed as 'outstanding' (Observer), 'wickedly and adroitly executed' (New York Times), and 'a comedy that holds a tragedy as an eggcup holds an egg' (Philadelphia Inquirer). 'Wickedly and adroitly executed.''New York Times

Muriel Spark (Author), Pamela Garelick (Narrator)

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A Far Cry from Kensington

The narrator is one Mrs. Hawkins. She writes from Italy, a far cry from Kensington indeed, taking us back to her threadbare years in postwar London. As a young, rather fat war-widow she spent her days working for a crazy, almost bankrupt publisher; and her nights offering advice from her boarding-house in South Kensington. In both locations our heroine soon uncovered difficulties: shady literary dealings; anonymous letters, blackmail, and even suicide. Whilst Mrs. Hawkins innocently, confidently put about setting things right, she could little imagine the ensuing mayhem and consequences. Now many decades older, thinner, and pleased with her situation in Italy, Mrs. Hawkins reflects on all those dark happenings, recounting how her own life changed forever. Narrated by Juliet Stevenson, A Far Cry from Kensington shows Muriel Spark at the mature height of her powers. Rediscover this classic on the 100th anniversary of Muriel Spark's birth.

Muriel Spark (Author), Juliet Stevenson (Narrator)

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Cats

John Keats, Muriel Spark, P. G. Wodehouse, Patricia Highsmith, Various Authors (Author), Liza Goddard, Richard Griffiths (Narrator)

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Classic Detective Stories

This collection features some of the greatest fictional detectives ever, including: Sherlock Holmes, Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond, Father Brown, Morris Klaw, and Inspector Morse, amongst others. Reader Edward Hardwicke, who played Watson to Jeremy Brett's Holmes in the early 1990s, makes an ideal reader for the genre. The unabridged stories here are: "The Green Mamba" by Edgar Wallace "The Poetical Policeman" by Edgar Wallace "The Dying Detective" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle "The Burglar" by Colin Dexter "The Man in the Passage" by G.K. Chesterton "The Assassins' Club" by C. Day Lewis writing as Nicholas Blake "The Case of the Tragedles of the Greek Room" by Sax Rohmer "Chimes" by Muriel Spark

Colin Dexter, Edgar Wallace, Muriel Spark, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Author), Edward Hardwicke (Narrator)

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Frau Dr. Wolfs Methode

Die aus Bayern stammende Psychologin Dr. Hildegard Wolf hat sich nach einigen Jahren in verschiedenen Ländern in Paris niedergelassen und praktiziert dort als eine der gefragtesten Psychologen der Stadt. Das Besondere an ihrer Therapie ist die fast ausschließliche einseitige Gesprächsführung in der ersten Sitzung durch die Psychologin, ohne dass der Patient redet. Einer ihrer Patienten behauptet, der berüchtigte Kindermädchenmörder 'Lucky' Lord Lucan zu sein, welcher seit einigen Jahren als verschollen gilt. Die Psychiaterin ist verwirrt, da noch ein anderer Patient genauso behauptet Lord Lucan zu sein- und sie beginnt der Sache auf den Grund zu gehen. Doch bevor sie weitere Nachforschungen über die wahre Identität des Mörders aufdecken kann, wird sie schon von dem betrügerischen Duo erpresst. -

Muriel Spark (Author), Uta Kroemer (Narrator)

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Loitering With Intent

Muriel Spark (Author), Nadia May (Narrator)

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Memento Mori

Muriel Spark (Author), Nadia May (Narrator)

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Memento Mori

Remember you must die' says the telephone caller. This the voice, and message communicated in a series of anonymous calls made to many elderly people. Including; Dame Lettie, a blue-blooded reformer, Godfrey - her rather irritating brother, and his once fabulous novelist wife Charmian. But who is the caller? And why are they reminding them of this final truth? It's unsettling and mysterious. The activity increases and soon a witch-hunt is in full force, with nobody beyond suspicion. First published in 1959, Muriel Spark's startling and timeless novel is at once a crime story, a black comedy and an important meditation on mortality. The narration is by Eve Karpf.

Muriel Spark (Author), Eve Karpf (Narrator)

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Miss Jean Brodies bästa år

På en flickskola i mellankrigstidens Edinburgh samlar Miss Jean Brodie en frigjord, passionerad och högst målmedveten lärarinna en skara noggrant handplockade elever: de allra, allra bästa, hennes flickor, Brodies gäng. De mer konventionella skolämnena får ge vika för kärlek, politik och konst, och Miss Jean Brodie gör allt för att forma flickorna till starka och oberoende kvinnor. Samtidigt har hon kärleksaffärer med två av skolans manliga lärare, varav den ena är gift. »Tryggheten är inte det viktigaste«, manar hon sina elever. »Godhet, Sanning och Skönhet är det viktigaste. Följ mig.« Och det gör de. Men en av flickorna ska komma att förråda henne. Förord av Andres Lokko MURIEL SPARK [1918-2006] är en skotsk romanförfattare och poet vars produktiva författarskap tillhör de verkligt säregna och betydande från det brittiska 1900-talets andra hälft. Romanen Miss Jean Brodies bästa år [The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, 1961] blev hennes stora genombrott och är fortfarande hennes mest lästa och omtyckta bok.

Muriel Spark (Author), Cecilia Walton Agrell (Narrator)

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Reality and Dreams: A Novel

Award-winning British author Dame Muriel Spark is internationally renowned for her witty and engaging tales of life. Short and sophisticated, Reality and Dreams follows the career of self-centered, middle-aged film director Tom Richards. As he turns colorful incidents from his life into glittery, cinematic fiction, his foreboding dreams become all too real. Tom is passionately directing his latest film when he falls from a crane on the set. Awaking in a semi-conscious fog in a hospital room, he suddenly must deal with a comic, surreal procession of doctors, nurses, and out-of-work relatives. In a drugged daze, he dreams of ways to change his life. But some of his hazy visions come true as he recovers, causing Tom's real world to unravel into a distorted soap opera. Muriel Spark is an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and winner of the prestigious David Cohen British Literature Prize. Her tantalizing story, Reality and Dreams, won the Arts Council Spring Book Award. With narrator Jenny Sterlin's expert pacing, all of the delicious surprises and the unsettling wisdom in this dark, contemporary comedy burst from the pages.

Muriel Spark (Author), Jenny Sterlin (Narrator)

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The Bachelors

A barrister, a "priest," a detective, a lovelorn Irishman, a handwriting expert, a heinous spiritual medium...the very British bachelors of Muriel Spark's supreme 1960 novel come in every stripe. First found contentedly chatting in their London clubs and shopping at Fortnum's, the cozy bachelors are not set to stay cozy for long. Soon enough, the men are variously tormented-defrauded, stolen from, blackmailed, or pressed to attend horrid séances-and then plunged, all together, into the nastiest of lawsuits. At the center of that suit hovers pale, blank Patrick Seton, the medium. Meanwhile, horrors of every size plague the poor bachelors-from epileptic fits to forgeries, spiritualists foaming with protoplasm, and murder-and each horror delights, lit up by Spark's uncanny wit, at once malicious, funny, and deadly serious.

Muriel Spark (Author), Nadia May (Narrator)

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The Ballad of Peckham Rye

The Ballad of Peckham Rye is the wickedly farcical fable of a blue-collar town turned upside down. When the firm of Meadows, Meade & Grindley hires Dougal Douglas (a.k.a. Douglas Dougal) to do "human research" into the private lives of its workforce, they are in no way prepared for the mayhem, mutiny, and murder he will stir up. In fact, this Music Man of the thoroughly modern corporation changes the lives of all the eccentric characters he meets, from Miss Merle Coverdale, head of the typing pool, to V.R. Druce, unsuspecting Managing Director. This is Dame Muriel Spark at her most devilishly piquant. "We are never out of touch, in a Spark novel, with the happiness of creation; the sudden willful largesse of magic and wit, the cunning tautness of suspense."-John Updike, The New Yorker

Muriel Spark (Author), Nadia May (Narrator)

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