The Bell

“A distinguished novelist of a rare kind.”

– Kingsley Amis

“Like the best of Murdoch’s novels, The Bell is about love and freedom, the interplay between the two and the destructive force of love-gone-wrong…her dialogues exist on a bright, self-aware plane…she’s writing about the only things that matter—love, goodness, and how to be happy without hurting others.” —The Independent

‘In this holy community she would play the witch.’

Imber Court is a quiet haven for lost souls, a utopia for those who can neither live in the world, nor out of it. But beneath the gentle daily routines of this community run currents of supressed desire, religious yearning and a legend of disastrous love. Charming, indolent Dora arrives in their midst, and half-unwittingly conjures these submerged things to the surface.