The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, the Girls of Slender Means, the Driver's Seat, the Only Problem

In THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE, Muriel Spark's 1961 novel, Miss Brodie, an eccentric teacher at a private girls' school, teaches her impressionable students much more than what is required by the curriculum: among other things, art, culture, and politics, with an emphasis on fascism. Suspected of carrying on an affair with the music master at the school, she is eventually forced to retire from teaching, not because of her bad example, but because of her enthusiasm for Hitler, Mussolini, and Franco--particularly after a student, encouraged by Miss Brodie to fight for Franco's cause, is killed in Spain. Miss Brodie's story is told from the perspective of Sandy, the student who sees Miss Brodie for exactly what she is. THE GIRLS OF SLENDER MEANS is the story of a group of young women living together in a London boarding house in the years after World War II. Chosen by Anthony Burgess as one of the best modern novels, the novel portrays with wit and insight the difficulties of living with the wounds of war. Copyright (C) Muze Inc. 2005. For personal use only. All rights reserved.