Waterstones Liverpool Welcomes James Bailey

We welcome James Bailey who joins us to discuss Like A Cat Loves A Bird - The Nine Lives of Muriel Spark.
Delving deep into both Muriel Spark's life story and remarkable bibliography, Bailey's effervescent biography captures the essence of the acclaimed writer's singular genius with style and wit.

She was, if you believe what you read in the papers: a genius, a survivor, a bad mother, a fickle friend, a closeted lesbian, a tyrant, a loner, an eccentric, a recluse, a gossip, and an arch-manipulator. She would politely encourage you not to believe what you read in the papers."

Muriel Spark was one of literature's great shapeshifters. That mercurial quality is found in her strange, brilliant, cruel novels - with their plots featuring pensioners receiving telephone calls from Death, the devil going clubbing in Peckham and a fascist schoolmistress leading her coterie of girls astray - but it is also true of her as a person.

As sly, nimble and elegant as Spark's own work, Like a Cat Loves a Bird is a thrilling new perspective on a remarkable life and career that spanned much of the twentieth century. From her childhood in Edinburgh to her final years in Tuscany - via South Africa, London, New York and Rome - it traces a light-footed journey around the world and through her strange and magnificent bibliography. It tells an irresistible story of transformation, wit and fierce determination and makes a passionate case for this vital modern artist.
James will be in conversation with Jess White. Their conversation will be followed by an audience Q&A and then a book signing.

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Host or Publisher Waterstones