A SLY, WITTY, BEAUTIFULLY ORCHESTRATED TALE ABOUT THE DIFFICULTY OF BEING GOOD. Edward Baltram is overwhelmed by guilt. His nasty little prank has gone horribly wrong: he has fed his closest friend a sandwich laced with a hallucinogenic and the young man has fallen out the window to his death. Stuart Cuno, Edward's stepbrother, has renounced both sex and a promising academic career to live a monk like life helping others. As Stuart seeks salvation, Edward searches for forgiveness and redemption through reunion with his famous father, Jesse Baltram. It is in Jesse's unusual household that the complex affairs of Edward's extended family begin to unfold.

"A formidable combination of intellectual drive and storytelling exuberance"

"On the simples and most profound levels, a pleasure to read. "

IRIS MURDOCH was born in Dublin, spent her school days in London and Bristol, and received her university education at Oxford and later Cambridge. She has written, twenty-two novels, including Nuns and Soldiers, The Philosopher's Pupil, and The Sea, The Sea. She has also published several books on philosophy and three plays. Among the many awards she has received is the Booker McConnnell Prize for The Sea, The Sea in 1978. She was for many years a Fellow of St. Anne's College, Oxford, where she taught philosophy. She lives near Oxford with her husband, John Bayley.