{"product_id":"the-finishing-school-9781400077397","title":"The Finishing School","description":"From Muriel Spark, the grande dame of literary satire, comes this swift, deliciously witty tale of writerly ambition that recalls her beloved \u003cb\u003eThe Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.\u003c\/b\u003eCollege Sunrise is a somewhat louche and vaguely disreputable finishing school located, for now, in Lausanne, Switzerland. Rowland Mahler and his wife, Nina, run the school as a way to support themselves while he works, somewhat falteringly, on his novel. Into Rowland's creative writing class comes seventeen-year-old Chris Wiley, a red-haired literary prodigy whose historical novel-in-progress, on Mary Queen of Scots, has already excited the interest of publishers. The inevitable result: keen envy, and a game of cat and mouse fraught with jealousy and attraction, both literary and sexual.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eMURIEL SPARK\u003c\/b\u003e was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1918. She is the author of over twenty novels as well as collections of short stories. Her most celebrated works include \u003ci\u003eThe Prime of Miss Jean Brodie\u003c\/i\u003e (1961), \u003ci\u003eLoitering with Intent\u003c\/i\u003e (1981), \u003ci\u003eThe Comforters\u003c\/i\u003e (1957), \u003ci\u003eThe Public Image\u003c\/i\u003e (1968), \u003ci\u003eThe Girls of Slender Means\u003c\/i\u003e (1963), \u003ci\u003eThe Driver's Seat\u003c\/i\u003e (1970) and \u003ci\u003eAiding and Abetting\u003c\/i\u003e (2001). She was awarded the OBE in 1993 and is a Dame of the British Empire. She has also been awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters by the University of Edinburgh, as well as the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. She lives in Tuscany.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Knopf Publishing Group","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50414971748626,"sku":"9781400077397","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_6b15695c-ce19-4774-88fd-4d23a68d5f21.jpg?v=1729392024","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-finishing-school-9781400077397","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}