Summary of A Far Cry from Kensington
Mrs Hawkins reflects on her life thirty years earlier, in the 1950s, when she was a young war widow living in a rooming house in Kensington, London, and working in the publishing industry. The novel centres on her aversion to a pompous and talentless writer named Hector Bartlett and on Wanda, a Polish dressmaker who lived downstairs and became the target of anonymous blackmail letters.
Reasons to read A Far Cry from Kensington
 “A Far Cry from Kensington” is a witty and sharply observed portrait of 1950s London. It captures the lives of lower middle-class people living in shared accommodation and offers an insider’s glimpse into the intrigues of the publishing world. Muriel Spark drew inspiration from her own experiences working in publishing and living in South Kensington (Sussex Mansions, Old Brompton Road). She was a distinguished Scottish novelist, best known for “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie”, “The Mandelbaum Gate”, “The Driver’s Seat”, “Memento Mori”, “A Far Cry from Kensington”, and “The Finishing School”. In 1988, she received the Golden PEN Award in recognition of her contribution to literature.
Setting: London (England, UK)
Original title: A Far Cry from Kensington
Year of publication: 1988
Nr of pages: 189
