From the Man Booker Prize–winning author of The Sea, the Sea and “one of the most significant novelists of her generation” (The Guardian).
A “consummate storyteller,” British author Iris Murdoch grappled with questions of morality as well as the nature of love in novels that are every bit as entertaining as they are thought provoking (The Independent). Over the span of her career, the “prodigiously inventive” Murdoch was the recipient of the Man Booker Prize, the Whitbread Literary Award, and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize (The New York Times).
A Word Child: Twenty years ago, Hilary Burde was one of the most promising scholars at Oxford, a student with a rare talent for linguistics and an unquenchable drive—until the accident. Now, forty-one and a decidedly ordinary failure, Hilary finds his quietly angry routine shattered when his old professor reappears—a man whose own demons are tied to Hilary’s and the tragedy from years ago. As the two men begin to circle each other again, digging up old wrongs and seeking forgiveness for long-buried ills, they find themselves on a path that will either grant them both redemption or end in their mutual destruction.
“Marvelous . . . riveting . . . fine and elegant.” —Los Angeles Times
An Unofficial Rose: Hugh Peronett’s life is tinged with regret: Twenty-five years ago, he ended an affair with Emma Sands, a detective novelist who had stolen his heart, to be with his wife, Fanny. Now Fanny is gone, and both Hugh and his grown son, Randall, find themselves at a crossroads of passion and righteousness. As Hugh, Emma, Randall, Randall’s wife, Randall’s mistress, and several others are caught in a dance of romance and rejection in bucolic rural England, they search for the true meanings of love, companionship, and desire.
“[A] Shakespearean comedy of misaligned lovers, minus the spirits and potions. Here the characters are responsible for their own actions, and Murdoch delights in painting these young, middle-aged and elderly adventurers and the psychological processes that direct their actions.” —Publishers Weekly
Bruno’s Dream: With not much time left to live, Bruno makes a final request to those who care for him: He wishes to see his estranged son, Miles, once more. After decades of broken contact due to Miles marrying a woman Bruno once found unsuitable, the prodigal son returns home—and finds himself confronting much more than a dying man’s last demand. As Miles; his wife and his sister-in-law; Bruno’s son-in-law, Danby; and Bruno’s nurses and aides gather at this deathbed vigil, they become entangled in a web of affairs. Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, Bruno’s Dream explores the turbulent passions and bitter grudges that will change them all—even long after Bruno is gone.
“Murdoch is in command of her talents . . . above all there are the transcending elements of passion and profundity on the subjects of death and love beautifully articulated in dramatic action.” —The New York Times