I love the magic of used books. As I started reading Muriel Spark’s wonderful ‘The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie’, I noticed, in my old and worn 1965 copy, a train ticket, dated 13 March 1986, from London to Edinburgh—where this book takes place. Perhaps it has been used as a bookmark, maybe the book itself was bought at the train station, or taken along to get the full effect of the story. 

The magic of this book didn’t end there. Coming in at 128 pages, Spark packs this little story full of so much vivacity and character. It is deeply humorous and yet has a lot to reflect on, with much that makes you smile in the beginning and leaves you with a bad taste in your mouth by the end. I adored going on the journey of navigating life and school with the six girls of ‘the Brodie set’, who each have such distinct personalities throughout the short narrative. Highly recommend giving this a go if you haven’t read it—it’s an underrated one.