The Bell (Vintage Classics Murdoch) (Collected edition) (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics)

by Iris Murdoch

A.S. Byatt (Introduction)

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Book cover for The Bell

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A motley assortment of characters seek peace and salvation in this early masterpiece by the Booker Prize-winning author of The Sea, The Sea 

A lay community of thoroughly mixed-up people is encamped outside Imber Abbey, home of an order of sequestered nuns. A new bell is being installed when suddenly the old bell, a legendary symbol of religion and magic, is rediscovered. And then things begin to change. Meanwhile the wise old Abbess watches and prays and exercises discreet authority. And everyone, or almost everyone, hopes to be saved, whatever that may mean. Originally published in 1958, this funny, sad, and moving novel is about religion, sex, and the fight between good and evil.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
  • ISBN10 0141186690
  • ISBN13 9780141186696
  • Publish Date 1 December 2001 (first published 1 January 1958)
  • Publish Status Active
  • Publish Country US
  • Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
  • Imprint Penguin Classics