Saved from a delinquent childhood by education, cheated out of Oxford by a tragic love tangle, Hilary Burde cherishes his obsessive guilt and ekes out a living in a dull civil service job.

When the man whom he has harmed and betrayed reappears as head of his department, Hilary hopes for forgiveness, even for redemption and a new life, but finds himself haunted by a ghostly repetition.

Iris Murdoch conjures a murky London setting for a story of a brilliant and flawed man hoping for redemption

About the Author
Iris Murdoch was born in Dublin in 1919. She read Classics at Somerville College, Oxford, and after working in the Treasury and abroad, was awarded a research studentship in Philosophy at Newnham College, Cambridge. In 1948 she returned to Oxford as fellow and tutor at St Anne's College and later taught at the Royal College of Art. Until her death in 1999, she lived in Oxford with her husband, the academic and critic, John Bayley. She was made a Dame of the British Empire in 1987 and in the 1997 PEN Awards received the Gold Pen for Distinguished Service to Literature.

Reviews
Deeply moving and entertaining * New York Times *
The readability of a novel like A Word Child is almost appallingly powerful * Independent *
It would be difficult to speak too highly of the extraordinary skill and confidence here displayed -- Frank Kermode
From the beginning of her career, Iris Murdoch seemed to enlarge the possibilities in front of the English novel. She was a writer of wonderful, and sometimes rather alarming idiosyncrasy... Hers was a liberating and a generous imagination * Independent *



Book Information
ISBN 9780099429128
Author Iris Murdoch
Format Paperback
Page Count 416
Imprint Vintage Classics
Publisher Vintage Publishing
Weight(grams) 287g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 25mm