''The Girls of Slender Means'' is a novella written in 1963 by

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

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 included in

Anthony Burgess John Anthony Burgess Wilson, (; 25 February 1917 – 22 November 1993), who published under the name Anthony Burgess, was an English writer and composer. Although Burgess was primarily a comic writer, his dystopian satire ''A Clockwork ...

's 1984 book '' Ninety-Nine Novels: The Best in English since 1939 — A Personal Choice''. In 2022, it was included on the "

Big Jubilee Read The Big Jubilee Read is a 2022 campaign to promote reading for pleasure and to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II. A list of 70 books by Commonwealth authors, 10 from each decade of Elizabeth II's reign, was selected by a panel of ...

" list of 70 books by Commonwealth authors, selected to celebrate the

Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II The Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II was the international celebration in 2022 marking the Platinum jubilee, 70th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II on 6 February 1952, the first British monarch to ever celebrate one. In the Un ...

Plot

The book centres on 'The May of Teck Club', a fictional institution said to have been established by Princess May of Teck during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

"for the Pecuniary Convenience and Social Protection of Ladies of Slender Means below the age of Thirty Years, who are obliged to reside apart from their Families in order to follow an Occupation in London". It concerns the lives and loves of its desperate residents amongst the deprivations of immediate post-war Kensington between

VE Day Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945, marking the official end of World War II in Europe in the Easter ...

and

VJ Day Victory over Japan Day (also known as V-J Day, Victory in the Pacific Day, or V-P Day) is the day on which Imperial Japan surrendered in World War II, in effect bringing the war to an end. The term has been applied to both of the days on ...

in 1945. The story is framed by the news, in 1963, that Nicholas Farringdon, an anarchist intellectual turned Jesuit, has been killed in Haiti. Journalist Jane Wright, a former inhabitant of the Club, wants to research his story. The bulk of the novella is taken up by flashbacks to 1945, concerning Farringdon and the Club, to which he had been a frequent visitor. The narrative climaxes with a tragedy that results in the death of Joanna Childe, an elocution instructor, and led to Farringdon's conversion through the evil heartlessness he perceived in the behaviour of Selina, another club resident.

Adaptations

In May 1975, the book was adapted for BBC television by Ken Taylor, broadcast in 3 episodes on BBC2 Produced by Martin Lisemore and Directed by Moira Armstrong.

Philip Hinchcliffe Philip Michael Hinchcliffe (born October 1944) is a retired English television producer, screenwriter and script editor. After graduating from Cambridge University, he began his career as a writer and script editor at Associated Television befo ...

handled most of the pre-production and casting, but had to leave the series when he was appointed producer of Doctor Who in 1974. Episodes were broadcast on Saturdays, followed by a Tuesday repeat. The series was repeated again on BBC2 in August 1976. The cast included:

Patricia Hodge Patricia Ann Hodge, OBE (born 29 September 1946) is an English actor. She is known on-screen for playing Phyllida Erskine-Brown in '' Rumpole of the Bailey'' (1978–1992), Jemima Shore in ''Jemima Shore Investigates'' (1983), Penny in '' Mira ...

Miriam Margolyes Miriam ( he, מִרְיָם ''Mīryām'', lit. 'Rebellion') is described in the Hebrew Bible as the daughter of Amram and Jochebed, and the older sister of Moses and Aaron. She was a prophetess and first appears in the Book of Exodus. The ...

Mary Tamm Mary Tamm (22 March 1950 – 26 July 2012) was a British actress, who appeared in many British TV drama series and serials, and is best known for her role as Romana I in the BBC's science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', starrin ...

Tina Heath Tina Heath (born 1953) is a British actress and former television presenter. She and husband Dave Cooke have two children. Early career Her first television appearance was in 1969, when she appeared in ''Broaden Your Mind'' on BBC 2 alongside Gr ...

, Valerie Lush, Jack Shepherd,

Jeffrey Segal Jeffrey Segal (1 August 1920 – 5 February 2015) was an English actor and scriptwriter. He made his first screen appearance, as an extra, in the film '' Jew Süss'' (1934). From the early 1960s onwards he appeared in many British TV series, ...

, Judith Paris and Suzy Mandel, with narrator Marjorie Westbury. A BBC Radio adaptation followed on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

on 1 August 1998 as part of ''The Saturday Play'' series. Adapted by Colin Davis, it featured

Amanda Root Amanda Root (born 1963) is an English stage and screen actress and a former voice actress for children's programmes. Root is known for her starring role in the 1995 BBC film adaptation of Jane Austen's '' Persuasion'', her role in the Britis ...

Joanna Monro Joanna Monro (born 1956) is a British actress and former television presenter who, in the 1980s, appeared on the BBC show '' That's Life!'' with Esther Rantzen. In 1974 she appeared in the '' Doctor Who'' story ''Planet of the Spiders'', followed ...

Abigail Docherty Abigail () was an Israelite woman in the Hebrew Bible married to Nabal; she married the future David, King David after Nabal's death (Books of Samuel, 1 Samuel ). Abigail was David's second wife, after Saul and Ahinoam's daughter, Michal, ...

, Christopher Wright, Charles Simpson, Jack Ellis, Caroline Strong, Frances Jeater,

Richenda Carey Richenda Carey (born 9 April 1948 in Bitton, Gloucestershire) is a British actress who is mostly known for her roles in '' Monarch of the Glen'', ''Jeeves and Wooster'', Darling Buds of May, '' Crush'' and more recently, ''Separate Lies'' and ' ...

and

Geoffrey Whitehead Geoffrey Whitehead (born 1 October 1939) is an English actor. He has appeared in a range of television, film and radio roles. In the theatre, he has played at Shakespeare's Globe, St Martin's Theatre and the Bristol Old Vic. Early life Whiteh ...

. Directed by Marion Nancarrow.

References

External links

Guardian review
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Girls Of Slender Means, The 1963 British novels British novellas Novels by Muriel Spark Novels set in London Fiction set in 1945 Alfred A. Knopf books British novels adapted into films