A Far Cry from Kensington

A Far Cry From Kensington
First edition (UK)
Author	Muriel Spark
Cover artist	Pat Doyle
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Publisher	Constable (UK) Houghton Mifflin (US)
Publication date	1988
Media type	Print
Pages	189
ISBN	0-09-468290-9

A Far Cry From Kensington is a novel (roman à clef) by Scottish author Muriel Spark published in 1988.

Plot introduction

Set in 1954 it is narrated by Agnes (known as Nancy) Hawkins; a young war-widow lodging in a rooming house in South Kensington and working as an editor at a struggling publishing house. The story centres on Wanda, a highly strung Polish dressmaker who is on the receiving end of various threatening letters and on Hector Bartlett who appears to be stalking Agnes and through whom she loses her job.

The story also features the pseudoscience of radionics.

Reception

Writing in The New York Times, Robert Plunkett believes it to be 'her most delightful novel in years' and explains "the best way to convey the pleasure this novel gives is to compare it to a wonderful old Alec Guinness movie, something along the lines of The Lavender Hill Mob. True, it follows the rules of art right down the line and illuminates the human condition, etc. But it also meets a trickier challenge, that of being superb entertainment.^[1]

Publication history

1988, UK, Constable, ISBN 0-09-468290-9, Pub date 21 Mar 1988, Hardback
1988, US, Houghton Mifflin, ISBN 0-395-47694-1, Pub date Jul 1988, Hardback
1988, Canada, Viking, ISBN 0-670-82250-7, Hardback
1989, UK, Thorndike Press, ISBN 0-89621-231-9, Pub date Mar 1989, Large print (h/b)
1989, UK, Penguin, ISBN 0-14-010874-2, Pub date 25 May 1989, Paperback
1990, US, Avon, ISBN 0-380-70786-1, Pub date Jan 1990, Paperback
1990, UK, Chivers, ISBN 0-7451-7187-7, Pub date Mar 1990, Large print (h/b)
1991, US, Listening Library, ISBN 0-8072-3186-X, Pub date, Dec 1991, Audio cassette, read by Eleanor Bron
2000, UK, New Direction, ISBN 0-8112-1457-5, Pub date 10 Oct 2000, Paperback
2008, UK, Virago, ISBN 1-84408-527-9, Pub date 01 May 2008, Hardback
2009, UK, Virago, ISBN 1-84408-551-1, Pug date 05 Nov 2009, Paperback
2011, UK, Blackstone, ISBN various, Audio CD/Cassette/MP3, read by Pamela Garelick

^[2]

References

↑ Strange Men and Entertaining Women, Robert Plunkett, New York Times, July 31, 1988
↑ www.fantasticfiction.co.uk

Novels by Muriel Spark

The Comforters (1957)
Robinson (1958)
Memento Mori (1959)
The Ballad of Peckham Rye (1960)
The Bachelors (1960)
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1961)
The Girls of Slender Means (1963)
The Mandelbaum Gate (1965)
The Public Image (1968)
The Driver's Seat (1970)
Not to Disturb (1971)
The Hothouse by the East River (1973)
The Abbess of Crewe (1974)
The Takeover (1976)
Territorial Rights (1979)
Loitering with Intent (1981)
The Only Problem (1984)
A Far Cry From Kensington (1988)
Symposium (1990)
Reality and Dreams (1996)
Aiding and Abetting (2000)
The Finishing School (2004)

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