Muriel Spark

Muriel Spark (1918–2006) was a Scottish novelist and short-story writer, born in Edinburgh. After early work in teaching and wartime service in intelligence, she moved into journalism and literary criticism before turning to fiction. Spark gained international recognition with *The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie* (1961), a sharply observed novel set in an Edinburgh girls’ school that became her best-known work. Her writing is noted for its wit, economy, and moral intelligence, often blending realism with the uncanny. Over a long career she published many novels, including *Memento Mori* (1959) and *The Driver’s Seat* (1970), and lived for years in Italy.