by Iris Murdoch
First published 2003
Gerard Hernshaw watches his carefully constructed world unravel as old friendships fracture over a book they once championed. Years earlier, Gerard and his Oxford companions had pooled their resources to support David Crimond in writing a radical political work. Now successful in their careers, they find themselves questioning both the book's message and their continued financial support of its author. The situation explodes when Crimond steals away Jean, the wife of Gerard's friend Duncan. What began as intellectual disagreement transforms into personal betrayal. Gerard struggles to untangle his moral outrage over the adultery from his political objections to Crimond's ideas. As marriages crumble and loyalties shift, the friends must confront whether their youthful idealism can survive the complexities of middle age.
Genres: drama, 20th-century, contemporary, adult-fiction, british-literature, academic
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: Oxford
Period: Middle Age
601 pages · Paperback · Vintage