The Comforters

''The greatest Scottish novelist of modern times.'' Ian Rankin In this first novel by Muriel Spark - author of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie - the only things that aren''t ambiguous are Spark''s matchless originality and glittering wit. With an introduction by Ali Smith. Caroline Rose is plagued by the tapping of typewriter keys and the strange, detached narration of her every thought and action. She has an unusual problem - she realises she is in a novel. Her fellow characters are also possibly deluded: Laurence, her former lover, finds diamonds in a loaf of bread - could his elderly grandmother really be a smuggler? And Baron Stock, her bookseller friend, believes he is on the trail of England''s leading Satanist. ''A master of malice and mayhem.'' Michiko Kakutani, New York Times ''Brilliantly original and fascinating.'' Evelyn Waugh ''A light, clever, mirthful tour de force ... It disrupts and charms its readers with its combination of wit, precision, intelligence and hilarity. As vibrant as ever, more than fifty years after its first appearance.'' Ali Smith