Anne Rowe – författare

Iris Murdoch and Morality provides a close focus on moral issues in Murdoch's novels, philosophy and theology. It situates Murdoch within current theoretical debates and develops an understanding of her work as a crucial link between twentieth and twenty-first century writing and theory.

Reviews‘Anne Rowe, a scrupulous Murdoch scholar of many years’ standing, has written a slim but comprehensive overview of the writer’s career, attending successively to aspects of her output in both genres, encompassing matters intellectual, spiritual, experiential and geographical.’Stuart Walton, The London Magazine

Iris Murdoch and Morality provides a close focus on moral issues in Murdoch's novels, philosophy and theology. It situates Murdoch within current theoretical debates and develops an understanding of her work as a crucial link between twentieth and twenty-first century writing and theory.

This largely chronological study of Iris Murdoch's literary life begins with her fledgling publications at Badminton School and Oxford, and her Irish heritage. It moves through the novels of the next four decades and concludes with an account of the biographical, critical and media attention given to her life and work since her death in 1999.

This largely chronological study of Iris Murdoch's literary life begins with her fledgling publications at Badminton School and Oxford, and her Irish heritage. It moves through the novels of the next four decades and concludes with an account of the biographical, critical and media attention given to her life and work since her death in 1999.

Sacred Space, Beloved City: Iris Murdoch’s London is a celebration of Iris Murdoch’s love for London and establishes her amongst distinguished “London writers” such as William Blake, Charles Dickens and Virginia Woolf. Individual chapters focus on the City, London art galleries and museums, the Post Office Tower (now the BT Tower), the statue of Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, Whitehall and the River Thames. Each chapter identifies intricate links between the environment and human consciousness and is accompanied by a corresponding walk that links Murdoch’s plots to landmarks and routes. All essays and walks are illustrated with sketches by Paul Laseau. These drawings not only illustrate locations for identification but also conjure their atmosphere so that readers engage with how Murdoch’s characters experience their surroundings. The final London Glossary is an annotated index of the London place names mentioned in all of Murdoch’s 26 novels.

'...Without surpriseI see him now in evil company.A wicked face – but oh those eyes could charm –Heart, sudden heart, don’t beat me to my knees.'Long hidden in an attic, vivid and revelatory poems shine a new light on the life and loves of Iris Murdoch.*As seen in the Guardian***With an introduction by Booker-shortlisted author Sarah Hall, and an essay from the editors.*In the dusty attic of Iris Murdoch’s Oxford home lay a battered, black chest. In 2016, when the chest was finally opened, Murdoch’s life in poems was revealed.Renowned for her fiercely intelligent novels and groundbreaking philosophy, Murdoch was one of the great writers of the twentieth century. Yet she is also known for her equally radical life – intense friendships, relationships with both men and women, and an open marriage – about which much has, often controversially, been written. Now, her tightly wrought and vivid poems reveal a new, deeply personal account in Murdoch’s own voice. They range over the preoccupations closest to her heart, from the state of Ireland to memories of a first love lost in the Second World War.Murdoch kept her poems private or addressed them to specific individuals. This did not affect the attention she paid to her craft. Always ‘obsessed’ with poetry, her technical skill is clear even in the musicality of the early pieces, maturing in the extraordinary, impassioned cycle ‘Conversations with a Prince’ and in the liberation of free verse.Above all, these are masterful poems about love; there is no writer who reveals its secrets quite like Iris Murdoch. These are essential poems for those who, like her, think deeply about romance and friendship, jealousy and commitment, and about all the shades of love in our lives.Praise for Iris Murdoch:'I’ve always been a big Iris Murdoch fan ... [She] lived her life with an incredibly open heart' Sarah Waters'More than almost any other writer, she understands the currents beneath the surface' Charlotte Mendelson'She is particularly good on what might be seen as our uglier feelings ... Murdoch writes so well about what it is to experience those twinges of envy and the cognate emotions, vanity and desire' TLS

Reviews‘Anne Rowe, a scrupulous Murdoch scholar of many years’ standing, has written a slim but comprehensive overview of the writer’s career, attending successively to aspects of her output in both genres, encompassing matters intellectual, spiritual, experiential and geographical.’Stuart Walton, The London Magazine