Twenty years ago Muriel Spark described a principle on which 'much of my literary composition is based'. This was 'the nevertheless idea'. Mrs Spark was writing about Edinburgh, about her exile from and her attachment to that city, a city in which, she explained, 'nevertheless' becomes 'niverthelace': 'I can see the lips of tough elderly women in musquash coats taking tea at MacVittie's, enunciating this word of final justification ... I believe myself to be fairly indoctrinated by the habit of thought which calls for this word. In fact I approve of the ceremonious accumulation of weather forecasts and barometer-readings that pronounce for a fine day, before letting rip on the statement: "Nevertheless, it's raining." '

LRB 2 June 1988 | PDF Download