[ book tip by Ann Morgan ] Having only read a couple of Iris Murdoch’s lesser novels, I was a little dubious about her prowess as a writer when I stumbled upon a copy of The Bell. Rambling and verbose, works such as An Accidental Man, seemed windy and weedy, the product of a sparky but ill-disciplined mind. So I was very pleasantly surprised to discover in The Bell one of the most tautly plotted and engaging books that I have read in a long while.  Centring on an eccentric lay-religious community huddled beside a convent somewhere in the English countryside, The Bell tells the story of three incongruous characters who get drawn to the place and caught up in a spiral of events as the Abbey prepares to receive its newly cast bell. The breezy and irresponsible Dora Greenfield is returning to her academic husband, who is working on some of the Abbey’s ancient books, after six months’ separation and infidelity; the idealistic and gauche Toby has come for a summer placement at the community before throwing himself into student life and the awkward and self-doubting Michael is overseeing the establishment of the community in the house that was once his family home. What follows is a masterclass in story-telling as each of these characters becomes embroiled in events that will leave them irrevocably changed. A must read.

[ book info ] Murdoch, Iris: The Bell. (Book language: English) Random House, 1999 (1973). ISBN: 0-099-28389-1.