A review by jcschlotfelt2313
Memento Mori by Muriel Spark

4.0

Memento Mori defies easy categorization or distillation. To read the back cover is to imagine a thriller featuring the geriatric set of a tawny London suburb, but there are several sections of the book where that story line dips so far into the background that I nearly forgot it was, apparently, the story.
The novel's chief focus is on aging, the fragility of life, and mortality as seen from a group of characters who are almost all over the age of 70. As this group of well-to-do retirees careen in and out of one another's lives, they touch on issues of familial jealousy, class, honor, sanity, and religion. Many of these are well-worn, universal topics but rarely are they given voice by septau- and octogenarians with no counterpoint from the middle-aged or youth. The point of view is unique and despite Spark's relative youth (41 years) at the time she penned Memento Mori, I rarely felt as though she patronized or belittled her elderly pro/antagonists.
On top of that, Spark is whip smart and hilarious--some of her matrons will remind contemporary readers of the Dowager Countess of Downton Abbey.