The Bell

Iris Murdoch, Sarah Perry

From Shelf: Summer reads

Discover Murdoch's wonderful writing in this compelling story of a young woman and an unusual religious lay community.A lay community of thoroughly mixed-up people is encamped outside Imber Abbey, home to an enclosed order of nuns.

Imber Court is a quiet haven for lost souls.It offers a sanctuary for those who can neither live in the world, nor out of it. But beneath the gentle daily routines of the community run currents of supressed desire, religious yearning and a legend of disastrous love. Charming, indolent Dora arrives in the midst of all this, and half-unwittingly conjures these submerged things to the surface.'She's writing about the only things that matter - love, goodness and how to be happy'Independent'A book that everyone who's ever been tempted to throw in the towel and become a hermit should read'GuardianWITH AN INTRODUCTION BY SARAH PERRY