There was something disconcerting about the modernity of ‘The Finishing School’, as it has precisely the same tone as [b:The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie|517188|The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie|Muriel Spark|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1379598918s/517188.jpg|6132856] and [b:The Driver's Seat|668282|The Driver's Seat|Muriel Spark|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348828782s/668282.jpg|2776383], yet the characters send emails. It was published in 2004 and is presumably set then. I wouldn’t say that Spark’s tone is ill-suited to the 21st century, just that it surprised me. I enjoyed her arch omniscience, in this case focused on a mildly dubious finishing school run by a married couple. As the husband fails to write a novel, he becomes obsessed with a pupil who is successfully doing so. Meanwhile his wife is tired of her life and preparing to leave. Although I appreciated the stylishness and aplomb of the narrative very much, I felt that the novella gave the reader only a glimpse of events. While amusing, this was also a little unsatisfying. The final pages recount what subsequently happened to each main character yet, unlike the two prior Spark novels, I couldn’t easily connect these fates to the incidents recounted. Possibly the larger cast was a factor? In any event, I love Spark’s distinctively arch writing but didn’t find this particular novella very memorable. ( )

Rowland and Nina run a small finishing school, which moves almost yearly just ahead of its outstanding bills. They offer a varied curriculum suitable for teenage boys and girls, scions of wealthy families, on the verge of becoming whomever it is they might become and requiring just a touch of finishing to, so to speak, finish them off. Perhaps unsurprisingly one of the favourite classes offered is Rowland’s creative writing course. That and Nina’s comme il faut class, where they learn such tidbits as, in England, to eat asparagus with one’s fingers.

Chris is a red-haired student and, possibly, a genius. Or at least he is a writer who actually writes, unlike Rowland, who has been blocked on his novel for several years. Almost inevitably, Rowland develops an unhealthy envy of Chris’ productivity. And Chris develops an unhealthy need for Rowland’s envy. Nina just wants to find an intelligent, scholarly man she can devote herself to (Rowland having failed her in that regard). And the other students and staff have equally complicated hopes and histories all of which weave a tapestry worthy of a Lausanne wall. Situations ensue.

Well into her 80s, Muriel Spark’s last novel is just as sparkling and outlandish as those of her youth. Her characters are intriguing, her situations almost absurd, and the whole concoction a frothy delight.

Easily and gently recommended. ( )

Jealousy, obsession, sex. There's never a boring moment in a Spark.

Being her last book and published on this side of the new millennium, it was occasionally jarring when the novel makes a relatively modern reference. It also feels a bit more "resolved" than her other books. Moreover, I couldn't stop thinking about this tweet while I was reading. Recommended for the Spark enthusiast, but not as a debut. ( )

Another very short, highly-packed book, in which the author hardly seems to be doing any work at all: most of the stories happen offstage and are merely hinted at in passing whilst the book appears to run on along its enjoyable trajectory by momentum alone. A nice trick if you can do it: Spark had had quite a bit of practice by the time she got this far.

Nina and Rowland run a small, unconventional school in Switzerland where rich parents can park their teenagers for a year or so. Rowland is also a writer, trying to complete his first novel, but he's unsettled by a growing obsession with one of his students, the 17-year-old Chris, who is writing an historical novel about Mary Queen of Scots and apparently making much better progress than Rowland. Chris's extreme youth and his red hair are already starting to arouse the interest of publishers, to Rowland's fury.

Spark in her eighties and with more than twenty novels behind her is having fun playing around with ideas about the difficulty of putting pen to paper, but there's also a lot of play with language that goes with the other end of the career - "finishing", "polishing off" and so on. And there are echoes of the writing-and-mental-health theme from The Comforters, and obviously allusions to the form and subject-matter of The prime of Miss Jean Brodie, right down to the final pages where she does a round-up of what has happened to all the students since. Plenty of dark themes lurking in the distance, but the mood is full of upbeat optimism. These young people might be lacking in all kinds of taste and values, but they more than make up for it by being so young and ready to enjoy life.

Sometimes novels written in extreme old age are a bit of an embarrassment, but this is one that makes you wish Spark had had time for a few more. ( )

breezy and swift, though aside from its ascerbic humor it had lacked gravity. The Finishing School was a Murdochian sketch pushed forward slightly into realization. The time twisted totems of education and affection pull up short of Don't Stand So Close To Me. ( )