by Iris Murdoch
First published 2011
Bruno lies on his deathbed, his mind filled with thoughts of spiders and mortality. The old man's approaching death draws together a tangled web of family members and caregivers, each wrestling with their own desires and disappointments. His son Miles remains distant, still nursing old wounds from their troubled relationship. Danby, who married Bruno's daughter before she died, seeks comfort in an affair with Adelaide, the sharp-tongued maid who brings unexpected humor to the somber household. The peculiar nurse Nigel tends to Bruno while his twin brother Will hovers nearby, prone to dramatic gestures and romantic obsessions. As the Thames rises and threatens to flood their world, these damaged people circle around the dying patriarch. The crisis forces them to confront their failures and longings. Through small acts of tenderness and moments of unexpected grace, they discover possibilities for forgiveness they never imagined. Bruno's final days become a crucible where love transforms suffering into something approaching redemption.
Genres: literary-fiction, 20th-century, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, redemption
Setting: Thames
Period: Deathbed
304 pages · Kindle Edition · Vintage Digital