The Unicorn

Murdoch was at the pinnacle of her art when she penned The Unicorn, a modern gothic work, published in 1963. I've read many of her other titles, A Severed Head being my favorite; however, if you'd like to start reading her, either book would be a great place to begin. Murdoch takes a little while to warm up her readers but once you are fifty pages in or so, you can't easily lay her aside. This one is particularly savory in that regard. The story here is about a gal, Marian Taylor by name, who is brought on as a companion to a rather strange woman in a remote and lonely castle. From the start, Marian has good reason to question her decision to take on this job. Here's a quote which sort of explains the title as well as conveying a little about the woman who's the focus of the story: "'I'm not sure that I understand,' said Effingham. 'I know one mustn't think of her as a legendary creature, a beautiful unicorn --.' 'The unicorn is also the image of Christ. But we have to do too with an ordinary guilty person.' 'Do you really see her as expiating a crime?' 'I'm not a Christian. By saying she's guilty I just mean she's like us. And if she FEELS no guilt, so much the better for her. Guilt keeps people imprisoned in themselves. We must just not forget that there WAS a crime. Exactly whose probably doesn't matter by now.'" (p.98) This is good, solid period fiction, a type of which we see all too little today. Highly recommended.

The Unicorn reads easily, with a plot that the average reader can outline and follow: a young woman is hired as a governess to a remote, mysterious household on the English coastline -- Murdoch did have an enormous fascination with the ocean and the coast -- only to discover that there are no children to teach, but rather she has been secured to keep a young married woman, Hannah, company. As the story progresses it is clear that Hannah is an extraordinary person in extraordinary circumstances. There are all the elements of a satisfying mystery novel -- deep dark secrets, rain and thunder, nighttime walks through the bog, odd personalities, spooky happenings. But of course, it's a Murdoch novel, and that means a hefty undercurrent of psychological analysis, the fallibility of humans, the disastrous prognosis of sin, accidents of fate, and all the convoluted personality quirks Murdoch loved to inflict upon her characters. She gives the reader a full course meal of philosophical, theological and psychological food for thought all the while maintaining an entertaining story line and engaging characters.

I am a newcomer to the works of Iris Murdoch and I find her style enthralling. The title and cover description are misleading; this work is not metaphysical or etherial. It is about relationships and emotion. Very enjoyable

Marian Taylor has been engaged as governess at Gaze Castle, set on a remote and lonely faraway coastline. The tale begins with her growing sense of foreboding as she realizes that she been separated from the normal and understandable world. Instead, she finds herself in a web of murky forces, among a group of strange people living with a dark, unspoken secret. At the center of the enchantment is Hannah Crean-Smith, the beautiful and mysterious lady of the castle. Marian soon learns that she is held in thrall, captive but willing, suffering but serene. While Marian's natural impulse is to fight for Hannah's freedom, she ultimately discovers that the forces of confinement are relentless, immovable, and overwhelming. Murdoch portrays good and evil with a mastery that is uncanny and unsettling. And as always in her work, the writing in and of itself is powerful and evocative. The following description of a short trip from Gaze to a nearby town serves as an example... "It was a clear day. The sea, at the horizon a hazier blue, faded away into azure light and became sky. To the north the bastions of limestone were a dark purple. To the south the land sloped now and the cliffs had ended. A few scattered cabins and tiny walled fields lined with blazing fuchsia appeared on the seaward shelves. Then there was the little harbour of Blackport with its yellow and black lighthouse and a cluster of sails and a long green headland beyond. Here the landscape was gentle, ordinary, human. It was the end of the appalling land." The Unicorn resonates on many dimensions and makes for rich and rewarding reading.

Both a gothic horror story and a heartbreaking character study, "The Unicorn" is quite possibly one of the best novels published in the english language in the latter part of the century.With an angst-inducing atmosphere, the tale of Marian Taylor, restless, young and naïve, and the tormented Hannah (in a way, the Unicorn of the title)both exiled in a decrepit manse in rural England, close to the sea, but nowhere else, is a pilgrimage of the soul in search of freedom from the burden of [alleged] sin. But it seems, this cannot be.Also, this book offers wisdom in many forms, including a quote that may very well make its way to the core of modern philosophy, as said by Marian: "Art and psychoanalysis give shape and meaning to life and that is why we adore them, yet life as it is lived has no shape nor meaning, and that is what i am experiencing just now."Definitely a novel to be read many times and to be kept at hand for a long time to come.