''Not To Disturb'' is a novel by the British author

Muriel Spark Dame Muriel Sarah Spark (née Camberg; 1 February 1918 – 13 April 2006). was a Scottish novelist, short story writer, poet and essayist. Life Muriel Camberg was born in the Bruntsfield area of Edinburgh, the daughter of Bernard Camberg, an ...

. It was first published in 1971 by

Macmillan MacMillan, Macmillan, McMillen or McMillan may refer to: People * McMillan (surname) * Clan MacMillan, a Highland Scottish clan * Harold Macmillan, British statesman and politician * James MacMillan, Scottish composer * William Duncan MacMillan ...

. The story is derived from a press report.Martin Stannard, ''Muriel Spark: The Biography''
Hachette UK, 2009, accessed 18 October 2016

Plot summary

'A storm rages round the towers of the big house near

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

. Behind the locked doors of the library, the Baron, the Baroness and their handsome young secretary are not to be disturbed. In the attic, the Baron's lunatic brother howls and hurls plates at his keeper. But in the staff quarters, all is under control. Under the personal supervision of Lister, the Baron's incomparable butler, the servants make their own, highly lucrative, preparations for the tragedy. The night is long, but morning will bring a *crime passionnel* of outstanding attraction and endless possibilities.'

Reception

' uriel Spark'snew novel is an agile send-up of different kinds of popular fiction: detective stories, the Jeeves novels, and realistic tales about the servant problem. Read with these parallels in mind, ''Not to Disturb'' offers fresh laughter and acerbic insight into conventional ways of writing about the hypocrisies of master-servant relationships. Occasionally, the parody extends to other Gothic novels. ... ''Not to Disturb'' has the cleverness to entertain and the intelligence to provoke thought; but, finally, its philosophical mysteries look suspiciously like pretenses, and the book leaves the annoying as well as the stimulating after-effects of legerdemain.' ''The New York Times'', 26 March 1972.Review in ''The New York Times'', 26 March 1972, by Lawrence Graver.
/ref> Martin Stannard records that 'Too many of the London reviews of ''Not To Disturb'' had been disappointing', and that in America it had had an 'indifferent reception'.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Not To Disturb 1971 British novels Novels by Muriel Spark Novels set in Switzerland Macmillan Publishers books