4**** for the quality of the stories – but this is not the volume of Spark's stories that the current-day reader should acquire. Published in 1985, it contains 27 stories; but Open to the Public (1997) contains an additional ten while All the Stories of Muriel Spark (2014) contain yet four more beyond that. While the stories in this 1985 volume are considered by and large to be Spark's best, you'll want the 2014 volume (available in paperback or e-book but not hardcover) for the sake of completeness. ( )