Author Event at The London Library with Frances Wilson & Chris John Power
8 October 2025
This was a special evening at the London Library. Short story writer Chris John Power hosted and interviewed critic and author Frances Wilson. Attending these author talks at the London Library on a cool autumn evening is always a treat, the reading room, with its rich red carpets and floor-to-ceiling stacks of books, lends itself to the cosy and literary atmosphere.
The conversation itself was a pleasure to watch unfold. Frances was warm, passionate and often very funny about her subject, while Chris proved an excellent host and interviewer, giving her the space to talk and asking exactly the right questions to draw her out. They talked about Frances's new book, ELECTRIC SPARK: THE ENIGMA OF MURIEL SPARK (Bloomsbury, £25). Not knowing much about the hidden life of Muriel Spark, this book was a revelation. The book is incredibly well researched, and the author has taken the time to unravel the hidden complexities of the life of one of Britain's most loved writers, the author of the fabulous THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE and THE DRIVERS SEAT, among so many notable others.
One detail from the evening has stayed with me, in her memoir Curriculum Vitae, Spark wrote of a childhood schoolfriend, Nita McEwen, who was said to have been murdered. Frances's research suggests Nita McEwen may never have existed at all, a character quietly invented within a book that presented itself as true. It's a small thing, but it captures exactly what makes Spark's life so enigmatic and fascinating, even her own account of herself can't entirely be trusted, and the line between her fiction and her life is never quite where you expect it.
I came away not just with a book in hand but intrigued by Muriel Spark and her very interesting life and rise to fame.
At The London Library with author Francis Wilson interviewed by Chris Power about her book ELECTRIC SPARK: THE ENIGMA OF MURIEL SPARK