Order of Book Series
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Muriel Spark Books in Order

51 books are credited to Muriel Spark, published between 1957 and 2018; 7 of them appeared after Muriel Spark's death in 2006. The first book is The Comforters (1957) and the newest is The Observing Eye (2018). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
51
Published
1957–2018
Pages on record
8,358 in 46 of 51 books
Reading time
139–209 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 8,358 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 46 of 51 titles with a page count on record.

See all 51 books in order Printable Muriel Spark checklist

Dame Muriel Spark (1918-2006) was a Scottish novelist, short story writer, poet and essayist. The Comforters (1957) opens her fiction, and Memento Mori (1958), The Bachelors (1960), The Ballad of Peckham Rye (1960) and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1961) follow in quick succession. Spark also wrote criticism and biography, including a study of Emily Brontë. Catholicism, young women and English social life recur across 51 catalogued titles.

How many Muriel Spark books are there?

Muriel Spark has 51 books, released between 1957 and 2018. 7 of them were published after Muriel Spark's death in 2006.

Muriel Spark Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 51 Muriel Spark books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.

  1. Cover of The Comforters by Muriel Spark (1957)
  2. Cover of All the Stories of Muriel Spark by Muriel Spark (1958)
  3. Cover of Memento Mori by Muriel Spark (1958)
  4. Cover of The Go-Away Bird and Other Stories by Muriel Spark (1958)
  5. Cover of Robinson by Muriel Spark (1958)
  6. Cover of The Ballad of Peckham Rye by Muriel Spark (1960)
  7. Cover of The Bachelors by Muriel Spark (1960)
  8. Cover of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark (1961)
  9. Cover of The Girls of Slender Means by Muriel Spark (1963)
  10. Cover of All the Poems of Muriel Spark by Muriel Spark (1967)
  11. Cover of The Public Image by Muriel Spark (1968)
  12. Cover of Very Fine Clock by Muriel Spark (1969)
  13. Cover of The Driver's Seat by Muriel Spark (1970)
  14. Cover of The Hothouse by the East River by Muriel Spark (1973)
  15. Cover of The Abbess of Crewe by Muriel Spark (1974)
  16. Cover of The Takeover by Muriel Spark (1976)
  17. Cover of Territorial Rights by Muriel Spark (1979)
  18. Cover of Loitering with Intent by Muriel Spark (1981)
  19. Cover of Going Up To Sotheby's and Other Poems by Muriel Spark (1982)
  20. Cover of The Only Problem by Muriel Spark (1984)
  21. Cover of The Stories of Muriel Spark by Muriel Spark (1985)
  22. Cover of Child of Light by Muriel Spark (1987)
  23. Cover of A Far Cry from Kensington by Muriel Spark (1988)
  24. Cover of Symposium by Muriel Spark (1990)
  1. 1
    The Comforters1957 · 208 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1957208
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    All the Stories of Muriel Spark1958 · 398 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1958398
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    Memento Mori1958 · 224 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1958224
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 5
    Robinson1958 · 174 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1958174
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 6
    Emily Brontë1960 · 271 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1960271
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 7
    The Ballad of Peckham Rye1960 · 142 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1960142
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 8
    The Bachelors1960 · 186 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1960186
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 9
    The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie1961 · 150 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1961150
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 10
    Doctors of Philosophy1963 · confirmed 1/4
    1963–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 11
    The Girls of Slender Means1963 · 141 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1963141
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 12
    The Mandelbaum Gate1965 · confirmed 1/4
    1965–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 13
    All the Poems of Muriel Spark1967 · 129 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1967129
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 14
    Collected Stories 11968 · confirmed 1/4
    1968–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 15
    The Public Image1968 · 144 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1968144
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 16
    Very Fine Clock1969 · 32 pages · confirmed 1/4
    196932
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 17
    The Driver's Seat1970 · 128 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1970128
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  17. 18
    Not to Disturb1971 · 95 pages · confirmed 1/4
    197195
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  18. 19
    The Hothouse by the East River1973 · 146 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1973146
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  19. 20
    The Abbess of Crewe1974 · 106 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1974106
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  20. 21
    The Takeover1976 · 189 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1976189
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  21. 22
    Territorial Rights1979 · 240 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1979240
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  22. 24
    Loitering with Intent1981 · 217 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1981217
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  23. 25
    Going Up To Sotheby's and Other Poems1982 · 111 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1982111
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  24. 26
    The Only Problem1984 · 179 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1984179
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  25. 27
    The Stories of Muriel Spark1985 · 314 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1985314
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  26. 28
    Child of Light1987 · 256 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1987256
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  27. 29
    Mary Shelley1987 · 266 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1987266
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  28. 30
    A Far Cry from Kensington1988 · 189 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1988189
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Muriel Spark books grouped by series

Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.

Standalone books

51 books

51 Muriel Spark titles here are not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read Muriel Spark books in order?

No. No source lists any of the 51 Muriel Spark books here as part of a series. The numbered table above gives them by publication date.

Where to start with Muriel Spark

Start with The Comforters (1957), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Muriel Spark book?

The Observing Eye (2018) is the newest Muriel Spark book released so far.

Is there a new Muriel Spark book coming?

No next Muriel Spark book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Awards Muriel Spark has won

Wikidata records 5 awards and 3 nominations for Muriel Spark. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.

Muriel Spark at a glance

Died
Muriel Spark died in 2006, according to Wikidata.
After death
Books credited to Muriel Spark are still being published after Muriel Spark's death in 2006; the newest appeared in 2018.
Release pace
Muriel Spark books have appeared about one a year on average.
Length
8,358 pages across the 46 of 51 books with a recorded length, a median of 175 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Muriel Spark books, 11 of 51, were published in the 1960s.

What the Muriel Spark books are about

42 of the 51 Muriel Spark books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: english literature is tagged on 8 of 42. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.