Like a Cat Loves a Bird
The Nine Lives of Muriel Spark
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Like a Cat Loves a Bird
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Narrated by:
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By:
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James Bailey
About this listen
FRANCESCA WADE, author of Square Haunting
"Utterly charming. A book as elegant, sharp-witted and mischievous as its subject"
CLARE POLLARD, author of Delphi
"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.
"You don't have to be a Muriel Spark fan to enjoy the sharp wit of Like a Cat Loves a Bird, a fascinating and nuanced exploration of the sacrifices some make to focus on their art"
LUKE TURNER, author of Out of the Woods
"Vital, fun and immediate . . . full of engaging and astute literary analysis of Spark's work as well as scintillating, vivid biography"
FRANCESCA REECE, author of Glass Houses
"A readable and fascinating book, about an under-appreciated literary giant"
LUCINDA HAWKSLEY, author of The Mystery of Princess Louise©2026 James Bailey
Critic Reviews
Bailey's slippery Spark is chaotic, complex, often hilarious, and constantly shapeshifting. His kaleidoscopic portrait illuminates Spark's life and work from every angle, yet - crucially - allows her the freedom she craved to confound and elude those who would try to pin her down. This is a deeply stylish, astute and illuminating biography of a fascinating writer (Francesca Wade, author of SQUARE HAUNTING)
Utterly charming. A book as elegant, sharp-witted and mischievous as its subject. If you love literary biography, you'll feel like the cat that got the cream (Clare Pollard, author of DELPHI)
You don't have to be a Muriel Spark fan to enjoy the sharp wit of Like A Cat Loves A Bird, a fascinating and nuanced exploration of the sacrifices some make to focus on their art. Bailey toys with Spark as the title implies - but there's an implication too that so does she, with her biographer and her readers, on the page, and from beyond the grave (Luke Turner, author of OUT OF THE WOODS)
Beautifully written ... a readable and fascinating book, about an under-appreciated literary giant (Lucinda Hawksley, author of THE MYSTERY OF PRINCESS LOUISE)
Vital, fun and immediate. Like a Cat Loves a Bird is lithe and compelling, and full of engaging and astute literary analysis of Spark's work as well as scintillating, vivid biography. A must-read for devotees (Francesca Reece, author of GLASS HOUSES)
In Like A Cat Loves a Bird, James Bailey has given his reader a sparkling and witty exploration of Spark's life and work and a serious and complex study of the slippery, playful connections between art and artist. Spark remains as curious and elusive as ever, and Bailey treats the reader to tantalising glimpses of one of our finest novelists without ever reducing her. I loved this book (Jenn Ashworth, author of THE PARALLEL PATH)
Bailey must be commended for getting as close as anyone can to capturing the slipperiness of this elusive, restless novelist, an intellectual monster who privileged her writing above all else, who came and went as she pleased, like one of her favourite felines, stalking and toying with her characters, forever on the prowl for a life less ordinary. (Nicholas Shakespeare, author of IAN FLEMING: THE COMPLETE MAN)
Scholarly and enticing at the same time - an irresistible and compelling 'behind the scenes' window into the mind and times of Muriel Spark (Helen Lederer)
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