The Public Image: A Virago Modern Classic

First published in 1968 and shortlisted for the Booker Prize, The Public Image couldn't be more relevant for today's celebrity-obsessed culture. This is Spark at her wittiest, wickedest best. Annabel Christopher is every inch the star: a glamorous actress with a devoted, handsome husband. To keep the paparazzi and her adoring public under her spell, her perfect image must be carefully cultivated, whatever the cost. Beneath the facade, though, her husband cannot bear her or their vapid existence. Envious of her success, and with a sense of drama far greater than her own, he stages a scandal that even Annabel will find it a challenge to recover from.'There is no question about the quality and distinctiveness of her writing, with its quirky concern with human nature, and its comedy' William Boyd Annabel Christopher is every inch the star: a glamorous actress with a devoted, handsome husband. To keep the paparazzi and her adoring public under her spell, her perfect image must be carefully cultivated, whatever the cost. Beneath the facade, though, her husband cannot bear her or their vapid existence. Envious of her success, he plots his revenge and stages a scandal even Annabel will find a challenge to recover from.