Muriel Spark left her entire estate to her companion Penelope Jardine and took steps to leave her only son nothing

Muriel Spark died on 13 April 2006 at 88. Her son, Samuel Robin Spark, was born in July 1938 and raised by her parents from the age of seven. In March 1998 the Observer reported a feud between them over her Jewish origins. A Jewish Chronicle story about her parents' marriage contract led Spark to deny that her mother was Jewish; Robin described a conventional Jewish childhood. Spark later conceded her grandmother may have been born Jewish. They barely spoke for the rest of her life. Spark left her entire estate to Penelope Jardine, the sculptor who had lived with her since the early 1970s, and took measures to ensure her son received nothing. The Evening Standard headline of 14 April 2007 said she left "millions" to the woman friend, but the amount is not confirmed^†. Jardine became literary executor and negotiated the sale of the archive to the National Library of Scotland, which holds a 124-box collection deposited in 2014 pending purchase. The library separately bought Spark's letters to her son from Robin Spark in 2013. Robin Spark is now deceased; his estate was sold at auction by Lyon and Turnbull^†.