THE DRIVER'S SEAT

by Muriel Spark ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 28, 1970

This is one of Muriel Spark's precipitous, faintly enigmatic novels (really half-novels) which proceeds in an abrupt present tense from its anonymous beginnings to its anticipated conclusion. Lisa, an indeterminate, jarringly antiseptic woman in middle years, in the incongruously garish outfit she buys to deliberately mark her passage, flies on a ""vacation"" to a European city. En route, the paperback book she buys, the remarks she drops, are like Hansel and Gretel's bread-crumb trail leading to what soon appears to be her self-designated appointment in Samarra. On the plane she meets a young man interested in reclaiming her--he is an Enlightenment Leader in the way of Yin and Yang. But he is not her type; she is an ""idealist."" The ideal does present himself, once she is in Europe and has made the acquaintance of a middle-aged woman whose nephew has just been released from a mental institution. Like the revived corpse in the Monkey's Paw, Lisa, an animated mannequin in a winding sheet, advances toward her rendezvous. A quirky, cranky curio preserved in formaldehyde.

Pub Date: Sept. 28, 1970

ISBN: 0811212718

Page Count: -

Publisher: Knopf

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1970

Categories: FICTION