Electric Spark

A revolutionary book. When Spark published her first novel, The Comforters, in 1957, it was recognised as unique – something that quite simply had never been done before. Wilson’s achievement in Electric Spark is equally remarkable: an entirely original method of life writing which leaves conventional biographical techniques gasping in the dust . . . Electric Spark heaves with ghosts and furies, burglaries and blackmail. It is disquieting and absolutely mesmerising. I was possessed by this book in the same way that I suspect its author was possessed by Spark. It still hasn’t put me down -- Lisa Hilton * Spectator *
Wilson is not any old biographer. Her books are intense, eclectic and wildly diversionary, her intelligence rising from their pages like steam – and in Spark, the cleverest and the weirdest of them all, she may have found her ultimate subject. It’s certainly delicious the way she casts shade on some of those who came before her . . . Her achievement in Electric Spark, a brilliant book by any standards, isn’t to explain the writer (this is impossible, and she knows it), but to be somehow carried along in her slipstream. There is an uncanny closeness between biographer and subject at play here, and I find myself wondering whether Wilson didn’t feel at times as if her manuscript wasn’t a form of automatic writing -- Rachel Cooke * Observer *
I’ve always enjoyed Muriel Spark’s droll wit, and there is plenty on offer in Frances Wilson’s biography of the author . . . Wilson expertly dissects the author’s writing . . . A welcome reminder to return to a gloriously talented novelist -- Martin Chilton * Independent *
So original and engaging . . . The result of this blend of existing sources and fresh archival finds is an unputdownable and “electric” perspective on the extraordinary talent and life that together forged Spark’s fiction . . . A fabulous achievement, in more than one sense -- Isabel Berwick * Financial Times *
Admiring yet sceptical . . . A dynamic and dizzying weave of early struggles and future success -- Anthony Cummins * Mail on Sunday *
A multi-faceted study of the writer through her work . . . Spark adored puzzles and games, and would surely have welcomed this approach. Not only because Wilson follows the clues with such intelligence and respect, but also because she shares the novelist’s scholarly knowledge of nineteenth-century literature . . . The story of Spark’s remarkable life proceeds with pace and wit . . . Mysteries remain. One is about the spying, the other concerns a story Spark told in her memoir about the murder of a Scottish woman she knew in Africa while she was staying at the same hotel. Wilson can find no record of this woman ever having existed. But these puzzles only add to the mystique of the writer, who is otherwise revealed here in a startlingly original way -- Marcus Field * London Standard *
A canny biography of the early career of this strange, brilliant novelist -- Olivia Laing * Guardian *
Wilson shows real perception and understanding of her subject – more than can be found in any other critical book published so far . . . Atmospheric and compelling -- Robin Baird-Smith * Oldie *
Wilson takes Spark at her word here, mining several of the novels and short stories for clues about the person. The result is illuminating and diverting, though in the end the subject remains satisfyingly elusive . . . Beautifully drawn out . . . Insightful * UnHerd *
A new, rich and well-researched biography by Frances Wilson . . . Illuminating and enjoyable -- Allan Massie * Scotsman *
A brilliant, wonderfully shrewd biography, expertly illuminating the most elusive and shape-shifting subject that is Muriel Spark -- WILLIAM BOYD
Treachery, lies, fantasy, God, everlastingly unsatisfactory sexual relationships . . . This miraculous narrative unravels the creative process of a brilliant novelist -- A. N. WILSON
A joyously, brilliantly intelligent work of biography. In Wilson, Spark has met her true match -- ANNE ENRIGHT
A pitch-perfect, electrifying symphony – reconfirming Wilson’s pre-eminence as Maestra of British literary biography -- RACHEL HOLMES
A fascinating new biography, which focuses on the writer’s early years in the 1940s and 1950s -- Lucy Thynne * Telegraph, Best Books of 2025 *
The biographer of D. H. Lawrence and Thomas De Quincey returns to decode the life of the enigmatic novelist and short story writer, focusing on her turbulent 20s and 30s * Guardian, The Books to Look Forward to in 2025 *
Dame Muriel’s life was composed of weird accidents, strange coincidences and spooky events that influenced her writing. In this biography, Wilson sets out to solve the puzzle of “Muriel the Marvel with her X-ray eyes” * Financial Times, What to Read in 2025 *
A writer’s writer who will no doubt inspire her own cult following -- AMANDA FOREMAN
The most original voice in life-writing today -- LUCASTA MILLER