Iris Murdoch's novels have always been noted for their ntelligent, witty observation of character and place.
Under the Net, her first novel, about a struggling young writer at large in London, she showed too a brilliant ]air for fast-paced comedy.
The Flight from the Enchanter in her second novel, Iris Murdoch strikes a delicate, alance between absurdity and tragedy, between –ealism and fantasy. In the opinion of many devotees his is her most entrancing novel.
When An Unofficial Rose was first published in 1962 it was almost unanimously acknowledged by the critics as a masterpiece.
An Unofficial Rose is in the great tradition of the English romantic novel; a love story that has not been debased by sentimentality. Iris Murdoch dissects and lays bare the anatomy of human relationships with such skill that to read her can, at times, be an almost overwhelming emotional experience.