The Mandelbaum Gate

Shortlisted for the Best of the James Tait Black Prize

'A brilliant virtuoso writer with a strong inventive power, a sharpness in conveying cultural textures, a great liveliness of intelligence . . . The Mandelbaum Gate is a fascinating performance' Malcolm Bradbury, New York Times

When Barbara Vaughan's fiancé joins an archaeological excursion to the Dead Sea Scrolls, she takes the opportunity to explore the Holy Land. It is 1961, and the nation of Israel is still in its infancy. For Barbara, a half-Jewish Catholic convert, this is a journey of faith, and she ignores warnings not to cross the Mandelbaum Gate from Israel into Jordan. An adventure of espionage and abduction, from pilgrimage to flight, The Mandelbaum Gate is one of Spark's most compelling novels, and won the James Tait Memorial Prize.