THE COMFORTERS by Muriel Spark (New...

THE COMFORTERS by Muriel Spark (New Directions: $10.95; 204 pp.). In this curious novel, Muriel Spark displays the kind of outre humor that leads people in other countries to shake their heads and declare, “There’ll always be an England.” The pleasant life of eccentric young BBC announcer Laurence Manders begins to crumble when he discovers his fiancee has begun hearing the voice of some omniscient Higher Author and his gypsy grandmother may be running a diamond smuggling ring. Their improbable adventures are complicated by the redoubtable Georgina Hogg, a pious busybody who makes virtue seem unattractive.