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The Black Prince

byIris Murdoch, Candia McWilliam (Introducer)

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Paperback

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Every artist is an unhappy lover. And unhappy lovers want to tell their story.

Ex-tax collector and author of two unpopular novels Bradley Pearson wishes to devote his retirement to writing a masterpiece. But the doorbell and the phone keep ringing, and every ring brings with it an ex-wife, a friend in need, a sister in trouble or a young woman seeking a teacher. And so, dusty, selfish Bradley is plunged into the muddles and mysteries that will end in his doom.

‘A source of wonder and delight’
Spectator

‘Her humour is all the more achingly funny because she keeps it on the edge of our vision’
Daily Mail

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY SOPHIE HANNAH

Murdoch is at the height of her powers in this novel, combining a complex plot with a heartrending analysis of the meaning of love

Good Book Guide

About Iris Murdoch

Iris Murdoch was born in Dublin in 1919. After working in the Treasury and in the UN, she discovered philosophy, eventually becoming Fellow at St Anne's College, Oxford. Her philosophical concerns are at the heart of the 25 novels for which she became famous, gaining the Whitbread Prize for The Sacred and Profane Love Machine and the Booker Prize for The Sea, The Sea. Until her death in 1999, she lived in Oxford with her husband, the academic and critic, John Bayley. She wrote poetry all her life.


Rachel Hirschler is the lead transcriber with the Iris Murdoch Collections at Kingston University Archives. Miles Leeson, Anne Rowe and Frances White are leading academics and editors who have published widely on Iris Murdoch’s life, philosophy and novels. Together they administer and contribute to the work of the Iris Murdoch Research Centre, the Iris Murdoch Society and the Iris Murdoch Review.
Details
  • Imprint: Vintage Classics
  • ISBN: 9780099589259
  • Length: 432 pages
  • Dimensions: 198mm x 26mm x 130mm
  • Weight: 306g
  • Price: £10.99