Win Muriel Spark's backlist, including our August Book of the Month – Loitering with Intent

To celebrate our August Book of the Month – Loitering with Intent by Muriel Spark – we are giving you the chance to win a bundle of novels by the author and an exclusive, limited-edition, money-can’t-buy Booker Prize tote bag. 

The set includes eight titles from Spark’s backlist, published in the UK by Virago: A Far Cry from Kensington, Memento Mori, Territorial Rights, The Public Image, The Mandelbaum Gate, The Comforters, Loitering with Intent and Symposium.

In Spark’s 1981 Booker-shortlisted title Loitering with Intent, a would-be novelist takes inspiration from life – but then finds the tables are mysteriously turned.

When Fleur Talbot takes up work for the snobbish Sir Quentin Oliver and the venal members of his Autobiographical Association, she is secretly delighted. Here is inspiration for her villain, Warrender Chase. But when Sir Quentin steals the finished manuscript for his own lunatic ends, life begins to imitate art with uncanny – and dangerous – predictability, for more than one of her characters has met an untimely end…

The Booker Prize tote bags, which are not available to buy, are designed by Leanne Shapton, who is the first art editor for the New York Review of Books, an author and illustrator, as well as having been a judge for the Booker Prize in 2018.

To be in with a chance of winning, simply enter your details below by 12:00 BST (British Summer Time) on Thursday, August 31, 2023. This competition is open to readers anywhere in the world.

Good luck!

This competition is a free draw, with only one entry allowed per person, and we reserve the right to disqualify any entries where we suspect one person has used a number of different email addresses. Use or attempted use of any automated or other non-manual entry methods is prohibited. 

The draw is governed by our general rules for competitions, available here, but the following specifics also apply (and take precedence should there be any contradiction or ambiguity): 

• There will be one winner, selected at random from entries received by 12:00 BST (British Summer Time) on Thursday, August 31, 2023. Entries received after this time will not be eligible. 
• The winner will receive a bundle of eight paperback novels by Muriel Spark: A Far Cry from Kensington, Memento Mori; Territorial Rights, The Public Image, The Mandelbaum Gate, The Comforters, Loitering with Intent and Symposium. 
• Entrants must be 18 or over, and we reserve the right to ask for proof of age at any point in the competition; prize-winners should be aware of the adult themes of the book, particularly if sharing it with other readers. 
• The competition is open to those resident in or outside the UK subject to the proviso that an entry is not eligible if it is from a resident in a country or jurisdiction where this free draw may breach any local law or regulation.    
• The winner will be notified by email no later than 12:00 BST on Friday, September 8, 2023, and must promptly provide a fully operative postal address for delivery of their prize. If we have not received this within 7 days of us notifying a winner, we will have no obligation to deliver the prize and at our sole discretion, we may select a further winner to receive the prize concerned or simply decide not to give it. 
• We may in due course and at our sole discretion publicise the names of the winners and their location (in general terms, not specific addresses) on our website and/or social media channels and by entering the competition an entrant agrees to this publicity should they be a prize-winner. 
• We can only undertake to do what is reasonable in all the circumstances to deliver the prize to a location outside the UK. 
• Bearing in mind, among other things, the value of the prize itself in relation to cost of delivery, we reserve the right (and this is determined at our sole discretion) to ask a winner to provide an alternative address for delivery to a person/location where the cost is proportionate. 
• The winner is responsible for any taxes or duties they may have to pay in order to take receipt of their prize.
• While we will aim to despatch the prize as soon as possible after the competition has closed, no responsibility can be accepted for entries delayed or lost.
• We are not responsible for any damage to the prize in the course of delivery; while we will consider a request for a replacement (if available) if the prize arrives in a seriously damaged state, this is solely in our discretion depending on the particular circumstances. 
• These terms and conditions are governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of England & Wales, and the courts of England & Wales shall have exclusive jurisdiction in relation determining any question or issue in relation to them.