Photo by Terence McCarten.
The years in New York represent a dazzling spell in Muriel Spark's life.
She visited in early 1962 to coincide with the American publication of 'The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie'.
Spark was treated in such style that later the same year she returned for the first of a number of extended stays.
Manhattan scene
Fêted by publishers, fellow writers and artists, Spark enthusiastically embraced the Manhattan social scene.
She enjoyed the rounds of parties, lunches and other entertainments with an ever-increasing circle of friends.
Spark rented a suite at the Beaux-Arts Hotel, but kept a room in London, journeying back and forth between the two cities.
New Yorker
This jet-setting lifestyle did not deter her from her vocation.
On the 18th floor at 'The New Yorker' magazine, where she had been given a corner office, Spark continued to work. 'The New Yorker' published much of her writing and was her strongest supporter.
During this time 'The Girls of Slender Means' and 'The Mandelbaum Gate' were published. Within a year of her departure from the city in 1966, the first collected editions of her work were produced.
New York highlights
Among the 'New York' items in the Muriel Spark exhibition are:
- Receipts and tickets for flights
- Address book and diaries
- Correspondence with John Updike
- Correspondence with Harold Macmillan
- Correspondence about Muriel's racehorse.