Not every town without a bookshop necessarily wants one, as Florence soon discovers in this wise and funny gem from Penelope Fitzgerald.
The Booker Prize 1978
Alfred Ayer, Iris Murdoch and Michael Caine
A pipped shortlistee in three of the first five Booker Prizes, this was finally Iris Murdoch’s year. Surprise was lacking, however, when the winner’s name was leaked before the big reveal.
The Sea, The Sea was Murdoch’s 19th novel and even by Booker Prize standards she was a formidably intellectual figure. She had already written three plays, two works of philosophy and the first English-language biography of Jean-Paul Sartre.
Her winning novel concerns the romantic obsession of a selfish and self-deceiving thespian as he embarks on his memoirs – a very Murdochian book of contradictions. Coincidentally, the prize money in 1978 went from £5,000 to £10,000.
Winner The Booker Prize 1978
- By
- Iris Murdoch
- Published by
- Chatto & Windus
Iris Murdoch turns her microscopic gaze on vanity and obsession in her 19th novel, which won the Booker Prize in 1978.
The Shortlist
Jane Gardam stirs a pinch of tragedy and a touch of farce into her story about a young girl who comes of age one glorious summer between the wars.
By Jane Gardam
Bernice Rubens’ intriguing novel about a factory worker who is forced to change her drastic retirement plan when she receives a diary as a gift.
Iris Murdoch turns her microscopic gaze on vanity and obsession in her 19th novel, which won the Booker Prize in 1978.
By Iris Murdoch
As Jake nears his 60th birthday, his hitherto faithful - to him, at least - companion goes missing. Kingsley Amis leads the hunt for Jake’s libido.
On the eve of the Soweto riots, narrator Martin Mynhardt, André Brink’s hard-nosed Afrikaner businessman, stubbornly clings to his view of the world.
By André Brink
