Aiding and Abetting by Muriel Spark

In a previous post about ‘The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie’ I mentioned that I had another novel of Muriel Spark on my bookshelf, ‘Aiding and Abetting’. I am sure I read it when I bought it but I had completely forgotten the contents. Now I read it again and I was disappointed with in it comparison to Jean Brodie. The use of language is interesting but I noticed a lot less gems than in the other book. It is like a piece of crime fiction with a murder playing a central role. I think it has more literary quality than typical books of that genre but it shares the fact of having an intricate plot. When confronted with this kind of story, and I do often watch such things on TV, I sometimes get tired of trying to follow the windings of the narrative and I reach the point where I think that I am just not interested in the characters and their actions. This also happened to me with the book I am discussing here. It is quite short and I read it quite quickly but I was left with a feeling of dissatisfaction. A central figure in the book is that of Lord Lucan, a person who really existed. He disappeared after allegedly murdering a nanny and was never found again.

One positive aspect of the book from my point of view were the links to Scotland and thus to my origins. It does give an interesting impressionistic view of northern Scotland, its landscape and its weather, giving me a touch of homesickness. At one point one of the characters, who is on the run, is advised to go and hide in Kirkwall, which is described as a ‘hole’. He does not take this advice. I felt the necessity to reply to this insult, since I was born in Kirkwall and spent most of my childhood nearby. I found Kirkwall a very nice place to grow up, although of course it was very provincial. It was a harmonious society to grow up in, in particular a classless society. Party politics did not play a big role. For many years the member of parliament for Orkney and Shetland was Joe Grimond, a member of the Liberal Party. In those days the Liberal Party was small and of little importance. His election slogan was ‘Vote for Joe the man you know’ and everybody did. In the first election when he did not stand, long after my departure from Orkney, the votes were rather evenly distributed over many parties. Apparently nobody knew who to vote for in the absence of Joe. I also have pleasant memories of Kirkwall Grammar School. I had the kind of education which I would wish for today’s children.

I now checked when the two books I have been writing about were published. The first was in 1961 and the second in 2000. At the time the second appeared the author was over eighty years old.