'Muriel Spark's Early Fiction is a magnificent achievement, bursting with revealing and original insights into Spark's fiction and the enduring preoccupations and working methods of this most singular author.' Bran Nicol, University of Surrey A compelling reappraisal of Spark's approach to literary experimentation This book presents a detailed critical analysis of a period of significant formal and thematic innovation in Muriel Spark's literary career. Spanning the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s, it identifies formative instances of literary experimentation in texts including The Comforters, The Driver's Seat and The Public Image, with an emphasis on metafiction and the influence of the nouveau roman. As the first critical study to draw extensively on Spark's vast archives of correspondence, manuscripts and research, it provides a unique insight into the social contexts and personal concerns that dictated her fiction. James Bailey is Honorary Research Fellow in English at the University of Sheffield. Cover image: At First, You May Only Be Able to Go This Far, Joseph Staples, collage, 8" x 10", 2014 (c) Joseph Staples, www.officesuppliesincorporated.com Cover design: [EUP logo] edinburghuniversitypress.com ISBN 978-1-4744-7596-9 Barcode

James Bailey is Honorary Research Fellow in English Literature at the University of Sheffield. He is the co-editor, with Emma Young, of British Women Short Story Writers: The New Woman to Now (Edinburgh University Press, 2016) as well as author of articles in peer-reviewed journals such as Contemporary Women's Writing and European Journal of English Studies.