An exploration of love and its excesses, missteps, and modest triumphs.

In a dark comedy of errors, Iris Murdoch portrays the mischief wrought by Julius, a cynical intellectual who decides to demonstrate through a Machiavellian experiment how easily loving couples, caring friends, and devoted siblings can betray their loyalties. As puppet master, Julius artfully plays on the human tendency to embrace drama and intrigue and to prefer the distraction of confrontations to the difficult effort of communicating openly and honestly.

Iris Murdoch’s 1970 novel was longlisted for the Lost Man Booker, in 2010.

Published by
Chatto & Windus

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Iris Murdoch

Iris Murdoch

About the Author

Iris Murdoch was born in Dublin and made her writing debut with Under the Net in 1954. She wrote 26 novels and several books of philosophy.
More about Iris Murdoch

Other nominated books by Iris Murdoch

The Book and the Brotherhood
The Good Apprentice
The Sea The Sea
Prize winner
The Black Prince
The Nice and the Good
Bruno's Dream