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Jackson's Dilemma

Edward Lannion, the young master of Hatting Hall, is about to marry Marian Fox.

At Penndean, a nearby house, preparations are under way for the wedding, overseen by the anxious Benet. Family and friends gather together for a celebratory dinner on the eve of the ceremony. The night is warm and clear, and after dinner the guests walk in the grounds and under the stars, full of happy anticipation.

But then there is a sudden and extraordinary event, which changes everything.

Iris Murdoch's novel is a marvellous and compelling human comedy. Edward and Marian, the couple at the centre of the story, are led by events to learn the truth about themselves; in the process, their friends, and lovers, are forced to make new choices, and see things as they are.

And watching over all of them is Jackson, Benet's servant, a dark, mysterious and dangerous presence. It is Jackson who must intervene in the story to set the two young lovers onto the right path.

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 Digital
  • ISBN: 9781407020211
  • Length: 256 pages
  • Price: £8.99
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