The Girls of Slender Means

By: Muriel Spark

Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon

"Long ago in 1945 all the nice people in England were poor, allowing for exceptions."

Thus begins Muriel Spark's tragic and rapier-witted portrait of a London ladies' hostel just emerging from the shadow of World War II. Like the May of Teck Club building itself - "three times window shattered since 1940 but never directly hit" - its lady inhabitants do their best to act as if the world were back to normal, practicing elocution and jostling over suitors and a single Schiaparelli gown.

But the novel's harrowing ending reveals that the girls' giddy literary and amorous peregrinations are hiding some tragically painful war wounds.

©1963 Muriel Spark (P)2008 Blackstone Audio

Critic reviews

"Spark, as usual, has perfectly plotted and peopled this giddy world of postwar delirium and girls' dormitory life." ( Library Journal)

A Spark in the Dark

Muriel Spark lends her dry, wry voice to this peculiar group portrait of a generation scrambling to make sense of the aftermath of war. Funny until it's tragic, and then funny again, and often both at once.

Optimistic Narration

Fascinating story of a different world and a different time, long before Women’s lib and gender equality. Yet these ‘impoverished’ posh girls lived their lives to the full with great spirit and good humor. The narrator of this absorbing tale speaks the way one imagines the girls themselves would speak. The only problem is that moments of great tragedy or even irony are relayed in the same optimistic Blue Peter voice as the rest of the narrative, giving one a sense of disorientation. But don’t let this put you off; it’s a great ‘read.’

Subtle humor

I did enjoy the subtle, British humor in this short novel, but the narrative was quite choppy, and the narration seemed to have pauses that interrupted the flow.

Narrator and weave of storyline

Loved this narrator English and great diction and vivacity. I also enjoyed the way the story moved around in timeline…a wonderful job capturing the Womens hostel with all its girls during war time. Clever.

Funny, moving, brilliant

Somehow, "The Girls of Slender Means" manages to be simultaneously: an often hilariously funny social satire (particularly of the publishing business); an amazingly realistic account of the deprivations of post-war England; and a deeply moving character study of the conflict between innocence and soulless evil. In some ways it's a "Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" with twenty-somethings instead of younger girls, and it's a good bet that if you have read and enjoyed that book you'll like this one. Nadia May is as always a fine interpreter of Muriel Spark, with fine pacing and a deft hand at conveying Spark's dry irony.