The Letters of Muriel Spark

The Letters of Muriel Spark, edited by Dan Gunn, Virago, 2025

I have spent the first few days of 2026 reading The Letters of Muriel Spark Volume 1: 1944-1963. Edited by Dan Gunn and published last year by Virago, these are a treasure trove for all fans of Spark’s novels and short stories, but also an insight into how a young woman from Edinburgh gradually became part of the pantheon of modern literature.

As someone who has seen more than their fair share of tax returns, one exchange caught my eye. On 6th May 1952, Spark submitted her 1951-52 Income Tax Return to the Inland Revenue. By post of course. She had recorded a loss of £50 15s 6d although that’s not important.

The Revenue responded, disputing the loss, pointing out that she had omitted to include a prize of £250 she had won from The Observer for her short story The Seraph and the Zambesi. That’s not important either, although - at the time - it was for Muriel Spark.

But the Inland Revenue’s response was dated 16th May 1952 ie a mere 10 days after Spark had posted her tax return.

These days it’s difficult to get meaningful statistics from HMRC on response times to anything. They claim to respond to 80% of their post within 15 days. Even if that is true, in my experience, their response will generally be a holding letter to advise that a full response will be forthcoming later. Repayments of tax routinely take months. It’s pointless phoning them.

Tax doesn’t have to be taxing, was the slogan used when Self Assessment was launched back in 1996. But HMRC generally ensure that it is.

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