The Girls of Slender Means

By: Muriel Spark

Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson

It is 1945; a time of cultural and political change, and also one of slender means. Spark's evocative and sharply drawn novel focuses on a group of women living together in a hostel in Kensington who face new challenges in uncertain times. The novel is at once dramatic and character-based, and shows Muriel Spark at the height of her literary powers.

Juliet Stevenson reads with her customary wit and intelligence this powerful masterpiece. Rediscover The Girls of Slender Means in audiobook on the 100th anniversary of Muriel Spark's birth.

©2012 Canongate Books (P)2012 Canongate Books

A fond remembrance

This short novel, based on life in a sort of middle class London hostel for well brought up young women, spans the months from VE day to VJ day in 1945.

At first it seems slight and autobiographical but it grows in stature as it proceeds. Before the elegaic ending brings down the curtain, it has become a funny, touching, rewarding experience. A sense of fond remembrance is powerfully conveyed.

Juliet Stevenson's superb reading could hardly be better and greatly enhances the book.