The Novels of Iris Murdoch Volume One - Henry and Cato The Italian Girl and The Philosopher's Pupil

Iris Murdoch

Summary

Three sharply observed novels from the “prodigiously inventive” Man Booker Prize–winning author of The Sea, The Sea (The New York Times). “One of the most significant novelists of her generation” (The Guardian) and a “consummate storyteller” (The Independent), 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. Over the span of her career, she was the recipient of the Man Booker Prize, the Whitbread Literary Award, and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. Henry and Cato: Henry Marshalson and Cato Forbes were inseparable childhood friends. But their lives took different paths. Henry went to the United States to teach art history. Cato became a priest. When Henry’s brother dies, leaving him sole heir to his family’s vast estate, he returns to England, and the two friends reconnect. As Henry struggles to come to terms with his personal passions and family obligations, Cato fights against his religious doubts and darker urges. Soon, both men find themselves entwined in a deadly intrigue that could ruin not only their lives but also the lives of those they hold dear. “Murdoch’s finest novel.” —Joyce Carol Oates The Italian Girl: After a long absence, Edmund Narraway has returned to his childhood home to attend his mother’s funeral. The visit rekindles feelings of affection and nostalgia, but also triggers a resurgence of the tensions that caused him to leave in the first place. As Edmund once again becomes entangled in his family’s web of corrosive secrets, his homecoming tips a precariously balanced dynamic into sudden chaos. “[An] inbred story of modern life . . . a ritual of innocence and corruption . . . accomplished with many dark fancies, sudden surprises and arcane implications.” —Kirkus Reviews The Philosopher’s Pupil: The quiet English town of Ennistone is shaken up when George McCaffrey’s car plunges into the cold waters of a canal, carrying with it his wife—and when the village’s most celebrated son, famed philosopher John Robert Rozanov, returns, upending the lives of everyone with whom he comes in contact, in this New York Times Notable Book. “The most daring and original of all her novels.” —A. N. Wilson

Available since: 05/08/2018.

Contemporary Fiction

Other books that might interest you

Lone Wolf

Michael Newton

A werewolf contends with love and hunger while fighting for the Confederacy during the Civil War in this romantic fantasy.   Graham is on the run. Running from a civil war that he was forced into, from the beast that lies hidden within him, and from the curse that keeps him from leading a normal life.   When Graham meets Eliza, a mere human, he falls deeply in love. But could she possibly love him once she discovers his ability to transform into the beast? Can Graham tame the beast inside him and live a normal life, or will his secrets tear apart the growing love between he and Eliza?

Show book

The Fuhrer's Orphans

David Laws

In this moving novel based on true events, a teacher and a British spy discover a group of children hiding from the Nazis in WWII Munich. 
 
When their parents are taken to concentration camps, twenty-seven children are left alone, hungry, and scared. Claudia Kellner, a German elementary school teacher, discovers the group hiding in a deserted Munich railroad yard. Only able to hide two of them in her home, she is desperate to find shelter for the others. 
 
Meanwhile, British spy Peter Chesham has penetrated Third Reich territory. But his critical mission is interrupted when he discovers the orphans’ hiding place. Following through on his orders would have fatal consequences for them. But giving up could mean losing the war. Now Peter and Claudia must work together, attempting an impossible rescue operation with the children’s lives—and the fate of the world—at stake.

Show book

The First Murder

Carol Goodman Kaufman

The ME ruled her death an accident. He was dead wrong.
 
When Mary Jane Bennett is found dead in her bed— alone, strangled by her own scarf, and with every door in the house locked — the medical examiner rules her death accidental, the result of a sex game gone horribly awry. State police decline to investigate further, but Queensbridge Police Chief Caleb Crane doesn't buy for a minute that his good friend died this way, so he undertakes his own investigation. Facing town councilors afraid of bad publicity, an angry medical examiner, and his own personal demons, he labors to solve what he believes is the first-ever murder in his pastoral Berkshire Hills village. Complicating things: the list of suspects includes some of the people to whom he is closest — including his own wife.
 
“. . . [a] smartly-paced debut novel . . .”—Gerald Elias, author of the Daniel Jacobus mystery series
 
“. . . one of my favorite mystery reads this year . . . With a talent reminiscent of Louise Penny, Kaufman creates a small town ambience of alliances and hidden resentments among characters whose humanity draws you in while raising your suspicions. The First Murder is an engaging and intriguing journey to an exciting conclusion.”—Sharon Healy-Yang, author of the Jessica Minton Mystery Series
 
“. . . [a] deftly constructed debut novel [that] kept me guessing until the very end.”—Leslie Wheeler, award-winning author of the Berkshire Hilltown Mysteries

Show book

The Portrait of a Lady

Henry James

Henry James’s beloved novel about a young woman’s search for freedom in a world that seeks to tie her to convention In the wake of her father’s death, young Isabel Archer decides to travel to England to visit her aunt, leaving behind the life set out for her in America and spurning the romantic overtures of her Bostonian suitor. At her aunt’s country estate, Isabel is determined to plot a new course unburdened by routine. But, prodded by convention at every turn, Isabel makes a decision that not only undermines her longing for independence, but may seal her fate forever. Among one of Henry James’s most timeless works, The Portrait of a Lady is a rich and nuanced depiction of human psychology and the tension between the pull of social norms and the desire for autonomy. This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.

Show book

Grey Dog

Elliott Gish

“Gish’s prose is as sharp as a scalpel.” — Publishers Weekly, starred review
		 
“Grey Dog is a bewitching tale of the horrors of spinsterhood in the early 1900s, with madness and magic threaded through every sentence.” — Heather O’Neill, author of When We Lost Our Heads and Lullabies for Little Criminals
		 
A subversive literary horror novel that disrupts the tropes of women’s historical fiction with delusions, wild beasts, and the uncontainable power of female rage
		 
The year is 1901, and Ada Byrd — spinster, schoolmarm, amateur naturalist — accepts a teaching post in isolated Lowry Bridge, grateful for the chance to re-establish herself where no one knows her secrets. She develops friendships with her neighbors, explores the woods with her students, and begins to see a future in this tiny farming community. Her past — riddled with grief and shame — has never seemed so far away.
		 
But then, Ada begins to witness strange and grisly phenomena: a swarm of dying crickets, a self-mutilating rabbit, a malformed faun. She soon believes that something old and beastly — which she calls Grey Dog — is behind these visceral offerings, which both beckon and repel her. As her confusion deepens, her grip on what is real, what is delusion, and what is traumatic memory loosens, and Ada takes on the wildness of the woods, behaving erratically and pushing her newfound friends away. In the end, she is left with one question: What is the real horror? The Grey Dog, the uncontainable power of female rage, or Ada herself?

Show book

The Almost Truth - an...

Anne Hamilton

'In a life full of books and not enough time to read them, I never read a novel twice. This one I will' Clo CareyWinner of the Irish Novel Fair 2021 
A compelling story of family, secrets, identity, and a reminder that love and life can surprise you… right until the very end. 
When Alina’s son, Fin, traces his long-absent birthfather, it’s the catalyst for decades of secrets to implode in Alina’s neatly ordered life. 
With the sudden appearance of Rory, and the ever-present pull of a very different life in Bangladesh, she’s left reeling. 
Three relationships, all of them built on half-truths. All Alina can truly be sure of, is that you can choose your family, you just can’t choose who they will turn out to be. 
'A lovely, compelling read about love, family, and finding yourself' Becky Hunter, author of One Moment 
'Intricately explores themes of home, family, identity, love, and loss, inviting readers to ponder the universal truths — and sometimes lies — that shape our lives' Jane Labous, author of Past Participle 
'Anne Hamilton handles with ease and grace this complex and compelling 'big Hindi movie' of a novel' Caroline Moir, author of The Brockenspectre 
'Set across Edinburgh, Bangladesh and Dublin, mysteries and family secrets abound in this intriguing novel' Elissa Soave, author of Ginger and Me 
'A captivating tale of human dilemmas and the consequences of half-truths' Olga Wojtas 
'A complex tale of interwoven cultures, told truthfully with humour and outright laughter, but always with Anne Hamilton's trademark sensitivity, understanding and honesty' Paul Soye, author of The Boy in the Gap

Show book