Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.

The Bell

Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

Brought to you by Penguin.
VINTAGE CLASSICS MURDOCH: Funny, subversive, fearless and fiercely intelligent, Iris Murdoch was one of the great writers of the twentieth century. To celebrate her centenary Vintage Classics presents special editions of her greatest and most timeless novels
A lay community of thoroughly mixed-up people is encamped outside Imber Abbey, home of an enclosed order of nuns. A new bell, legendary symbol of religion and magic, is rediscovered. Dora Greenfield, erring wife, returns to her husband. Michael Mead, leader of the community, is confronted by Nick Fawley, with whom he had disastrous homosexual relations, while the wise old Abbess watches and prays and exercises discreet authority. And everyone, or almost everyone, hopes to be saved whatever that may mean... Iris Murdoch's funny and sad novel is about religion, the fight between good and evil and the terrible accidents of human frailty.
(C) Iris Murdoch 1958 (P) Penguin Audio 2011

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

  • Formats

  • Languages

  • Levels

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      It is late 1940s England. Dora Greenfield is an artistic free spirit married at too young an age to a controlling professorial type. On a whim, she leaves him, again, on a whim, she returns to him--and to his temporary home as a researcher in a lay religious community of thoroughly mixed-up people. Miriam Margolyes keeps all the comings and goings perfectly clear in this amusing and acerbic commentary on English society. Margolyes's mellow tones give believable voice to every character, from our heroine Dora to the gruff-voiced local handyman. Her pacing heightens the story's multiple tensions, and her nuanced reading highlights Murdoch's sly social commentary. A.C.S. (c) AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • Lexile® Measure:1000
  • Text Difficulty:5-7

Loading