Long before timelines, feeds and clouds, there was the simple problem of length. Thread that tangled. Wire that kinked. Film that tore. Memory that snapped if mishandled. Spool is the word that grew ...

Anne Tyler on her new novel A Spool of Blue Thread, Elizabeth Harrower on publishing again after four decades and a close reading of Muriel Spark's manipulative Miss Jean Brodie. Show more Anne ...