Iris Murdoch, writer of over 25 plays, short stories, essays, and novels, writes about the relationships of Martin Lynch-Gibbons and his wife Antonia. The plot thinckens as Palmer Anderson and Honor Klein enter the scene... A satire on relationships. Truly a great book to read on a rainy night.
Martin Lynch-Gibbon thinks he has it all. He is envied by all by marrying Antonia, a beauty sought by many wealthy and influential men. He has a mistress named Georgie and is quite content with his life. Unfortunately, his wife drops a bombshell. She wants to leave him for her psychotherapist, a man Martin himself introduced her to! He tries to dissuade her by being very civilized about the whole thing. He says all right have an affair but lets forget all this nonsense about divorce. However, Antonia is adament. Martin finds to his dismay that he is to be part of a threesome (not sexual) between Antonio, Palmer and himself. He becomes angry at himself for allowing his emasculazation but rather than take it out on his tormenters, he "acts out" with the enigmatic Honor Klein, Palmers half-sister. Nothing in this book is what you would imagine. Put aside all preconceptions and simply read it, not just for the story, which seems to move sideways rather than forward but for the character studies and be prepared - nothing is what you think. Iris Murdoch was a great novelist and her irony reminds me a bit of Jane Austins, although it is of a different kind. While Austins irony has more to do with words than situations, Murdochs is more ironic in the situations she creates than the words she uses although her words are marvelous. The dialogues (both internal and external) the characters use are sly and witty. After Pride and Prejudice, I would have to say that this is my favorite book.
I read this book in college. Some previous reader had underlined every appearance of the word "understand" - and for once I was grateful. I suggest you try that too.
