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A severed head

Iris Murdoch

198876 pagesabout 1–2 hours
1988
first published
  • 1964Chatto & Windus · 108 pages · ENGISBN 9780701109851
  • 1976Penguin Books in association with Chatto & Windus · 204 pages · ENGISBN 9780140020038
  • 1978Triad · 207 pages · ENGISBN 9780586045916
  • 1988Chatto & Windus · 252 pages · ENGISBN 9780701133344
  • 2001Penguin Random House · 224 pages · ENGISBN 9780099285366
  • 2015Samuel French Ltd · 76 pages · ENGISBN 9780573015274
  • 1961Viking Adult · ENGISBN 9780670636747
  • 1963Penguin (Non-Classics) · 248 pages · ENGISBN 9780670001408

Martin Lynch-Gibbon believes he can possess both a beautiful wife and a delightful lover. But when his wife, Antonia, suddenly leaves him for her psychoanalyst, Martin is plunged into an intensive emotional re-education. He attempts to behave beautifully and sensibly. Then he meets a woman whose demonic splendour at first repels him and later arouses a consuming and monstrous passion. As his Medusa informs him, 'this is nothing to do with happiness'.

How it reads

Character focusTwo hander

Worth knowing

Romance levelCentralSubplot

When and where

ThemesLoveClass

Content notesnot yet assessed

Quotesnone available

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