Full of suspense, humor, and symbolism, this magnificently crafted and magical novel replays biblical and medieval themes in contemporary London. An attempt by the sharp, feral, and uncommonly intelligent Lucas Graffe to murder his sensual and charismatic half-brother Clement is interrupted by a stranger—whom Lucas strikes and leaves for dead. When the stranger mysteriously reappears, with specific demands for reparation, the Graffes’ circle of idiosyncratic family and friends is disrupted—for the demands are bizarre, intrusive, and ultimately fatal.
“A tour de force . . . One puts down this novel with a feeling of having feasted at a table of great ideas.”—Los Angeles Times
“This is as enthralling a web as [Murdoch] has ever spun, and its sensuousness, its visionary physical detail, is a pleasure.”—San Francisco Chronicle
“Her most emotionally gripping novel yet . . . built around Manichaean juxtapositions of good and evil, love and power, celebration and passion, light and dark.”—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times
Iris Murdoch (1919–1999) was born in Dublin and brought up in London. She studied philosophy at Cambridge and was a philosophy fellow at St. Anne's College for 20 years. She published her first novel in 1954 and was instantly recognized as a major talent. She went on to publish more than 26 novels, as well as works of philosophy, plays, and poetry.
View titles by Iris Murdoch
Full of suspense, humor, and symbolism, this magnificently crafted and magical novel replays biblical and medieval themes in contemporary London. An attempt by the sharp, feral, and uncommonly intelligent Lucas Graffe to murder his sensual and charismatic half-brother Clement is interrupted by a stranger—whom Lucas strikes and leaves for dead. When the stranger mysteriously reappears, with specific demands for reparation, the Graffes’ circle of idiosyncratic family and friends is disrupted—for the demands are bizarre, intrusive, and ultimately fatal.
Reviews
“A tour de force . . . One puts down this novel with a feeling of having feasted at a table of great ideas.”—Los Angeles Times
“This is as enthralling a web as [Murdoch] has ever spun, and its sensuousness, its visionary physical detail, is a pleasure.”—San Francisco Chronicle
“Her most emotionally gripping novel yet . . . built around Manichaean juxtapositions of good and evil, love and power, celebration and passion, light and dark.”—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times
Author
Iris Murdoch (1919–1999) was born in Dublin and brought up in London. She studied philosophy at Cambridge and was a philosophy fellow at St. Anne's College for 20 years. She published her first novel in 1954 and was instantly recognized as a major talent. She went on to publish more than 26 novels, as well as works of philosophy, plays, and poetry.
View titles by Iris Murdoch
