Sceptre triumphs in four-way auction for 'distinctive and gripping' new biography of Muriel Spark

Sceptre has triumphed in a four-way auction for Like a Cat Loves a Bird: The Nine Lives of Muriel Spark, James Bailey’s biography of Muriel Spark.

Editorial director Charlotte Humphery bought British Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, from John Ash at CAA. Sceptre will publish the book in physical, e-book and audio formats in April 2026, to mark the 20th anniversary of Spark’s death.

"As sly, nimble and elegant as Spark’s own work, Like a Cat Loves a Bird is a thrilling new perspective on a remarkable life and career of one of Britain’s greatest writers," the synopsis says. "From her childhood in Edinburgh to her final years in Tuscany – via South Africa, London, New York and Rome – it traces a light-footed journey around the world and through her strange and magnificent bibliography. It tells an irresistible story of transformation, wit and fierce determination and makes a passionate case for this vital modern artist."

Humphery said: "As a keen reader, I thought I knew and admired Muriel Spark. But Like a Cat Loves a Bird has shown me how much more there is to understand and adore about this fierce, spiky and incomparable writer. I am obsessed and it is all thanks to James Bailey, who has written the kind of biography that I most love – one that is both deeply researched and knowledgeable but also vibrant, distinctive and gripping."

Bailey added: "For a long time, I’ve thought of Muriel Spark as modern literature’s finest shapeshifter. Over the course of her 88 years, and in the 20 years since her death, she has remained elusive, contradictory and endlessly fascinating; just when you think you have the measure of her, she slips out of sight before reinventing herself anew. Getting to tell the story – or rather the many stories – of her life and work has been a writing experience like no other."