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A review by lelia_t
The Girls of Slender Means by Muriel Spark
4.0
This is such a slim volume and seemingly straightforward, yet repetitions, foreshadowing and disruptions in time create a lively cadence that kept me on my toes. I imagine reading this is kind of like being introduced into the May of Teck Club among all the delightful, ingenious, movingly lovely and savage girls of slender means.
I loved these girls. I loved the casual way Spark defines their “savagery” - Joanna, for example, who loves poetry “rather as it might be assumed a cat loves birds.” These girls have survived the bombings and rationing in London - they aren’t sentimental or soft as they look toward their future prospects. Their transactional approach to relationships is as matter-of-fact as their understanding - down to a fraction of an inch - of the hip size required to slip through a small window onto the roof.
I found the book full of surprises, from phrases that got my attention to unexpected violence. It is a book I will read again and again, the text is so layered, with seemingly negligible details coming to resonate more deeply as the story progresses. I know there's a spiritual theme here - getting through the eye of the needle/slipping through the narrow window - but it hasn't landed yet. Maybe future rereading will help.
I loved these girls. I loved the casual way Spark defines their “savagery” - Joanna, for example, who loves poetry “rather as it might be assumed a cat loves birds.” These girls have survived the bombings and rationing in London - they aren’t sentimental or soft as they look toward their future prospects. Their transactional approach to relationships is as matter-of-fact as their understanding - down to a fraction of an inch - of the hip size required to slip through a small window onto the roof.
I found the book full of surprises, from phrases that got my attention to unexpected violence. It is a book I will read again and again, the text is so layered, with seemingly negligible details coming to resonate more deeply as the story progresses. I know there's a spiritual theme here - getting through the eye of the needle/slipping through the narrow window - but it hasn't landed yet. Maybe future rereading will help.