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Muriel Spark
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The Hothouse by the East River: A Novel Kindle Edition

by Muriel Spark (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
3.2 3.2 out of 5 stars 25 ratings
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Touched by madness and haunted by a secret past, Paul and Elsa’s relationship reveals that there can be no normality for people who witnessed the worst of war In 1970s New York, Paul and Elsa are like many other well-off middle-aged couples, worrying over their apartment and psychoanalyst bills by day, and meeting friends at restaurants by night. But this is not an ordinary couple with ordinary neuroses, as becomes clear when Paul convinces himself that Elsa’s shadow always points in the wrong direction. As Paul and Elsa’s involvement in World War II espionage begins to surface, the glitz and glamor of their lives is revealed to be nothing more than illusion. The Hothouse by the East River is a delirious satire of superficial urban life in the shadow of one of modern history’s great horrors. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Muriel Spark including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author’s archive at the National Library of Scotland. 
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  1. Print length
    153 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Open Road Media
  5. Publication date
    March 20, 2012
  6. File size
    2998 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
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  9. Enhanced typesetting
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“[Spark is] one of this century’s finest creators of comic-metaphysical entertainment.” —The New York Times“One of our greatest living novelists.” —The Times

About the Author

Muriel Spark (1918–2006) was a prolific Scottish novelist, short story writer, and poet whose darkly comedic voice made her one of the most distinctive writers of the twentieth century. Spark grew up in Edinburgh and worked as a department store secretary, writer for trade magazines, and literary editor before publishing her first novel in 1957. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1961), considered her masterpiece, was made into a stage play, a TV series, and a film. Spark became a Dame of the British Empire in 1993. 

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B007ELLCNM
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Open Road Media (March 20, 2012)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 20, 2012
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2998 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 153 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.2 3.2 out of 5 stars 25 ratings

About the author

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Muriel Spark

Muriel Spark

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Muriel Spark (1918–2006) was a prolific Scottish novelist, short story writer, and poet whose darkly comedic voice made her one of the most distinctive writers of the twentieth century. Spark grew up in Edinburgh and worked as a department store secretary, writer for trade magazines, and literary editor before publishing her first novel in 1957. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1961), considered her masterpiece, was made into a stage play, a TV series, and a film. Spark became a Dame of the British Empire in 1993.

Customer reviews

3.2 out of 5 stars
3.2 out of 5
25 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

JAK
3.0 out of 5 stars Very Strange
Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2024
Muriel Spark's fiction tends to be on the strange side .In Momento Mori I gather God is calling people in a nursing home.In Portobello Road a ghost discusses her murder and who knows what's going on in The Comforters. The Hothouse is even stranger.I was bored by it at first but I gradually got into it and began to thoroughly enjoy it.Muriel Spark always succeeds in grabbing me.What is this novel about, God only knows. It does work! To paraphrase the authors most famous character, this is the sort of thing that people who like this sort of thing like.I'm one of them.
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belvahullp
4.0 out of 5 stars The Hothouse by the East River
Reviewed in the United States on December 22, 2016
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The Hothouse by the East River by Muriel Spark; (4*)

WOW!~! This book is a real trip! I felt as if I was back in the early 70s and in my own little world. I can see my brain thinking like this but I cannot imagine how having the ability to put it on down on paper. Marvelously done by Spark!
The story is about a man and his wife who survived WWII, along with their family members and friends. It is about remembrances of the war years but told as if in current time. Everyone, but everyone in this little book, is quite eccentric or just outright bizarre. The reader is here within the story but then, no....... yanked right out of your head and into a different story! I found the characters strangely fascinating and fun, yet at times some of them were frightening as well.
If this little review seems rather disjointed just imagine how disjointed the book was and yet I loved it and read it through in one sitting. Spark is amazing and if you want to read something a bit different and off center, this might be just the ticket for you. It was for me.
5 people found this helpful
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Mimi C.
2.0 out of 5 stars Lots of whining
Reviewed in the United States on November 23, 2017
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The book is odd. Even with the unusual ending, I found it tedious. The characters do an incessant amount of whining and complaining. It's redeeming feature is that it is a very fast read.
One person found this helpful
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Mrs. W. Ardoin
5.0 out of 5 stars one of her best in my humble opinion
Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2006
As mentioned by someone else on this page, this book is not for people who are new to Spark's novels. It is probably my favorite of all her books, in a way. I read it right after I read her autobiography and it was interesting to see how she integrated some of the events and people from her life (particularly around WWII in England) into the story.
7 people found this helpful
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Stephen O. Murray
1.0 out of 5 stars A boring and stupid novel by one of my favorite authors
Reviewed in the United States on October 11, 2001
Muriel Spark is easily the best living Scottish writer (though she has long lived in Italy) and has produced many brilliant novels (including Memento Mori, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, The Abbess of Crewe, The Only Problem, Girls of Slender Means, A Far Cry from Kensington), but this (1973) one rivals _The Driver's Seat_ (1970) for being her worst. It is an implausible and arbitrary tale of a well-to-do couple living in Manhattan who met in a counter-intelligence/propaganda program during World War II. The wife thinks she has seen a man who was a Nazi double agent working in a shoe store, though he was supposed to have died long ago.

I find it impossible to believe in or care about any of the characters in this typically short (139-page) Spark novel, and the ending rivals that of (her fellow convert to Catholicism) G. K. Chesterton's _The Man Who Was Friday_ for unsatisfactoriness. A side-plot on vaguely "shock the bourgeoisie" off-Broadway theater of the early 1970s adds more yawns, as does a ridiculout psychiatrist turned butler.

This novel from Spark's doldrum period deserves to stay out of print, whereas most of her novels from _The Abbess of Crewe_ (1974) through _Far Cry_ (1988) and her pre-1970s novels continue to provide pleasures and insights to readers and deserve to be in print and read.
11 people found this helpful
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annie lucas
5.0 out of 5 stars The Hothouse by the East River
Reviewed in the United States on August 8, 2003
Muriel Spark continues to cause one to laugh aloud with her expertly simmered-to-a-boil biting social wit!
Savour this one a chapter at a time to allow for proper absorbtion and complete enjoyment.
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Speed Reader
2.0 out of 5 stars A book of its time
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 1, 2022
Verified Purchase
I found the story dated. Only read because it was recommended reading on a writing course. Gone to the charity shop.
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Lulubeth
5.0 out of 5 stars Dark skies, bright Spark.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 7, 2017
Verified Purchase
Wonderfully dark and tightrope-light, funny and ghastly, this book, often regarded as a queer anomaly in the Spark canon, this book unfolds its story - and the dislocated mental landscapes of its characters, slowly, deliberately and ultimately reveals the reader's rowing fears about the characters to be entirely founded. Surreal, unreal, frustrating and compelling.
One person found this helpful
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