The Comforters – Muriel Spark

E.F. Benson meets John Fowles is not a mash-up I ever expected to encounter, but that is what the divine Spark came up with in her debut. It’s an astringent mix, but it works in places.

I liked this introduction of a character, previously alluded to as the Baron:

“It is quite a common thing,” Willi Stock said. “Your brain is overworked”. This was the Baron speaking. He stood by the electric fire with its flicking imitation coals, sipping Curacao.