Muriel Spark

Dame Muriel Sarah Spark DBE, CLit, FRSE, FRSL (née Camberg; 1 February 1918 – 13 April 2006) was a Scottish novelist, short story writer, poet and essayist. In 2008, the The Times named Spark as No. 8 in its list of 'the 50 greatest British writers since 1945'. 2Early life Muriel Camberg was born in the Bruntsfield area of Edinburgh, the daughter of Bernard Camberg, an engineer, and Sarah Elizabeth Maud (née Uezzell). Her father was Jewish and her mother had been raised a Presbyterian, as was Muriel. She was educated at James Gillespie's School for Girls (1923–35). In 1934–35 she took a course in 'commercial correspondence and précis writing' at Heriot-Watt College. She taught English for a brief time and then worked as a secretary in a department store. On 3 September 1937 she married Sidney Oswald Spark, and soon followed him to Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Their son Samuel Robin was born in July 193