deliberate

☆Muriel Spark, one of the "50 Great British Writers", shortlisted for the Booker Prize

☆A meta-fiction that explores the art of novels. The magical reality in the book unfolds according to the plot of the novel, which is strange, funny, insightful and inspiring. Readers are invited to take a literary joyride, seeing the world through the eyes of great art.

☆With an unsentimental narrative and a character design that is completely incompatible with traditional female virtues, it tells the London adventures of independent literary women in the 20th century.

☆Fleur Talbot, who wanted to become a writer, has been wandering on the fringes of the strange London literary circle. In order to make a living, she accidentally became the secretary of the weird "Autobiographical Society". The convener of the society is Sir Quentin, who is eager to manipulate people's hearts, and the members under his control are all down-and-out but self-righteous British nobles. Quentin encourages members to write about their "brilliant lives" "candidly", but the biographical material, which is already half true and false, has been "artistically processed" by Fleur and Sir Quentin successively. Art and reality have been entangled from the very beginning. Later, the manuscript of Friel's first novel was stolen by Quentin, and the fiction was further reflected in life, and real, cold deaths followed one after another...

☆This is a meta-fiction about the art of fiction, a conspiracy against novelists. Through the mouth of Friel, Spark talked about as an artist, her way of viewing the world and her thinking about artistic creation. Although the underlying theme is serious, Spark has set it up with an absurd and bizarre story, and the writing is witty and humorous, often with sarcasm, easily attracting readers to embark on this literary joyride with her. The female writer Freyle she created echoes Woolf's ideal at a distance—making a living independently, having a room of her own, and achieving success through writing. Friel sighed more than once: As an artist and a woman, living in the 20th century, it feels so good! Although she has experienced many strange things, but for her, it just enriched the writing material. At the end of the novel, she gave life a good kick and happily embarked on her own life path. There is not a single word in the book discussing women's independence, but the vivid female image has explained everything. Muriel injects her own views on life and art into playful and beautiful words, leading readers to see the world through the eyes of art.