The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (Muriel Spark)

The one that started it all, at least for me, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie has played a pivotal role in my life. “For those who like that sort of thing, that is the sort of thing they like”—and this book has all the great school tropes: a charismatic teacher, a tight-knit group of students, intrigue, and a gripping story that will take you from the girls' school days to their adult lives and back again, until the all-too-short story is over. Spark is a true expert at the art of brevity, and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is her best-known and most-successful novel. I also love her last novel, The Finishing School.

Obviously watch the movie with Maggie Smith (she nabbed an Oscar nom), but I have to say my favorite adaptation was the miniseries with Geraldine McEwan--that packed a punch and was Spark's favorite adaptation.