Iris Murdoch novels tend to be vocabulary builders. The latest word I had to look up was: exiguous. Not something you would expect to find in a novel.
ex·ig·u·ous
igˈzigyo͞oəs,ikˈsig-/
adjective
formal
1.
very small in size or amount.
"my exiguous musical resources"
synonyms: meager, inadequate, insufficient, small, scanty, paltry, negligible,modest, deficient, miserly, niggardly, beggarly; More