The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

In Spark's dark novel, Miss Jean Brodie is a study in off-center individualism. As a teacher, she creates her own ideas of what her pupils need to know and takes pains to avoid the limits others may place upon her at a time when most women accepted these types of limitations. Her pre-feminist practices ultimately result in her being fired as a result of the betrayal of one of her students. Narrator Nadia May's voices are an almost musical backdrop to the story; her accents dance gracefully with one another throughout all types of interaction. Miss Jean Brodie's eccentricities and the author's use of time shifts are not lost in May's reading. May keeps the reader right by her side. L.B.F. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine


Geraldine McEwan tackles with aplomb Muriel Spark's rich tale of individuation among small-minded academics. Set in Edinburgh in the tempestuous political era of the 1930s, the story's universal theme of standing up against conventionality is still relevant and stirring nearly seventy years later. McEwan glides through Spark's text, adeptly altering her accents and intonations to suit each character. There is hardly a moment when it is not absolutely clear who is speaking. All this adds to the complete package of the audiobook, making it suitable for casual listeners and students of literature alike. R.A.P. (c) AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine