The novelist Muriel Spark has died. She was a natural writer of great dramatic gift. A Catholic convert whose works often concerned theological issues, it is particuarly poignant to think of her this Easter Day. I remember with special pleasure The Mandelbaum Gate and, of course, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.
UPDATE: The NYT obit is fascinating, especially regarding the relationship with her son.
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I was first introduced to Muriel Spark by reading the “Mandelbaum Gate,” when I bought a used paperback from a street vendor. I have since read almost everything she wrote. I think my favorites are “The Girls of Slender Means” and “A Far Cry From Kensington.”
I think you are only born Jewish if your mother is, if your grandmother is but not your mother, I think you would have to convert.
I always sensed that Spark was ambivalent about her Jewish heritage (much like Madeleine Albright when she found out). But I thought she was fair about Israel and its relation to the surrounding Arab states in “The Mandelbaum Gate.” She wasn’t kind to any of the parties, which is her style.