The Girls of Slender Means by Muriel Spark (1963)

Follows several young women (and their men) living in a London hostel at the end of the Second World War.

Book Review: The Girls of Slender Means was my first introduction to Scottish writer Muriel Spark (1918-2006), is one of my favorites of her books, and I think one of her best. It directly followed The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1961), her most successful novel, and may have suffered by comparison (although it sold well at the time). It is a quieter book, more subtle, perhaps smaller, but no less captivating and meaningful. Spark creates a credible sense of the feel of London during the War, of rations, bombings, the distant image of King George VI and the two princesses, and the Bomb. It is a time of two worlds, as the past fades into the new reality to come. The young women live in a hostel "for the Pecuniary Convenience and Social Protection of Ladies of Slender Means below the age of Thirty Years." The setting of The Girls of Slender Means is similar to the usual boarding school story (sharing clothes and food), but about women just a bit older as they try to make a living in London and meet men: "It was a miniature expression of a free society ... a community held together by the graceful attributes of a common poverty." Spark's description of the various inhabitants, each unique and fascinating, is charming and irresistible. One of the women works for a publisher (as did Spark) who tells her, "Always think of authors as your raw material, Jane." In her spare time Jane attempts to elicit lucrative, hand-signed letters from authors such as George Bernard Shaw and Dylan Thomas. I adore Spark's writing. She's always precise, intelligent, unsentimental, and elegant: "She spoke soothingly, as to a child who had just been prevented from spooning jam into the stew." Her razor humor is here as well. A mostly calm novel, but with moments of sudden or almost unseen horror. As is often the case with Spark there is a quiet religious theme here, but never overbearing or presumptuous. A young poet, captivated by the collage of women in the hostel, finds himself and his life's meaning through their varied aspects and elements. He and the women confront, or choose not to face, a backdrop of eternity, the inevitable, and eternal truths. "A vision of evil may be as effective to conversion as a vision of good." But never fear, it's also simply a memory of certain people in a certain time and place, evoking London in wartime. Although The Girls of Slender Means will be too quiet and subtle for some, for those in a reflective mood it will be rewarding and intriguing.  [4½★]