26 FEBRUARY 1994, page 31

The Hero Of Another's Novel

Barry Unsworth THE MASTER OF PETERSBURG by J. M. Coetzee Secker, £1499, pp. 250 his is a remarkable novel in several ways, not least in the boldness of its enter- prise. An......

Books

Nothing if not witty James Buchan THE COLLECTED STORIES by Muriel Spark Penguin, .£6.99, pp. 360 T he first story in this collection, which is called The Portobello Road' and......

A Selection Of Recent Paperbacks

Fiction: A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth, Phoenix, £8.99, pp. 1474 Net of Jewels by Ellen Gilchrist, Faber, £5.99 Impossible Vacation by Spalding Gray, Picador, £5.99 Malefice by......