A WORD CHILD - Iris Murdoch -1975
Finishing the year like I've started the last couple of years, with an Iris Murdoch novel, in this case, A Word Child. Started this book once or twice before, but never gained traction, but this time I got pulled in. It's the first-person narrative of Hilary Burde, from the wrong side of the tracks, who rises to linguist at an Oxford college, only for it to go smash, literally. Hilary has been having an affair with Anne, the pregnant wife of Gunnar, an Oxford colleague and friend. Burde kills Anne in a car accident--or was it? This is one of the great novels of sin, repentance, reconciliation, and the need to go on. Philosophically and spiritually, this might be one of Murdoch's deepest novels. I think she is at the height of her powers here. Surprisingly, there is a streak of roguish and mordant humor in the novel, courtesy of the wolfish narrator. Reminds me of her The Black Prince, but more affecting.