The Time Of The Angels

In this haunting novel that 'troubles our sleep' (Richard Holloway) seven characters circle the enigmatic and callous figure of Carel, a 'priest of no God'Carel is widowed rector presiding over a London church destroyed during the war. The rectory is home to an array of residents- his daughter, Muriel; his beautiful invalid ward, Elizabeth; their West Indian servant, Pattie; Eugene, a Russian emigre, and his delinquent son, Leo. Carel's brother, Marcus, is co-guardian of Elizabeth, but his attempts to get closer to the rector are constantly rebuffed.These seven characters maintain a constant dance of attraction and repulsion, misunderstanding and revelation, the centre of which is the enigmatic Carel himself - a priest who believes that, God being dead, His angels have been released.

“Iris Murdoch was one of the best and most influential writers of the twentieth century...she kept the traditional novel alive, and in doing so changed what it is capable of”

Guardian
The Time of the Angels is certainly her best; wittier, more lyrical, more deeply felt than ever before. She is an enchantress Sunday Times
I can think of few other novelists who could have written so superbly and so surely of the good and evil that encompasses us all Daily Telegraph

Iris Murdoch was born in Dublin in 1919. She read Classics at Somerville College, Oxford, and after working in the Treasury and abroad, was awarded a research studentship in Philosophy at Newnham College, Cambridge. In 1948 she returned to Oxford as fellow and tutor at St Anne's College and later taught at the Royal College of Art. Until her death in 1999, she lived in Oxford with her husband, the academic and critic, John Bayley. She was made a Dame of the British Empire in 1987 and in the 1997 PEN Awards received the Gold Pen for Distinguished Service to Literature.

WITH AN AFTERWORD BY RICHARD HOLLOWAY 'Certainly her best; wittier, more lyrical, more deeply felt than ever before. She is an enchantress' Sunday Times Carel is rector of a City church in ruins, destroyed during the war. In the rectory live his daughter, Muriel, his beautiful invalid ward, Elizabeth, and their West Indian servant, Patti. Here too are Eugene, a Russian emigre, and his delinquent son, Leo. Carel's brother, Marcus, co-guardian with him of Elizabeth, tires to make contact with Carel but is constantly rebuffed. These seven characters go through a dance of attraction and repulsion, misunderstanding and revelation, the centre of which is the enigmatic Carel himself - a priest who believes that God is dead, and this is the time of the angels. See also: The Bell

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