WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY CANDIA MCWILLIAM The Black Princeis both a remarkable thriller and a story about being in love.

Bradley Pearson, narrator and hero, is an elderly writer with a 'block'. Finding himself surrounded by predatory friends and relations - his ex-wife, her delinquent brother, a younger, deplorably successful writer, Arnold Baffin, Baffin's restless wife and engaging daughter - Bradley attempts to escape. His failure to do so and its aftermath lead to a violent climax and a most unexpected conclusion.

Iris Murdochwas born in Dublin in 1919. She read Classics at Somerville College, Oxford, and after working in the Treasury and abroad, was awarded a research studentship in philosophy at Newnham College, Cambridge. In 1948 she returned to Oxford as fellow and tutor at St Annes College and later taught at the Royal College of Art. Until her death in 1999, she lived in Oxford with her husband, the academic and critic, John Bayley. She was made a Dame of the British Empire in 1987 and in the 1997 PEN Awards received the Gold Pen for Distinguished Service to Literature.

Iris Murdoch made her writing debut in 1954 withUnder the Net. Her twenty-six novels include the Booker prize-winningThe Sea, The Sea(1978), the James Tait Black Memorial prize-winningThe Black Prince(1973) and the Whitbread prize-winningThe Sacred and Profane Love Machine(1974). Her philosophy includesSartre: Romantic Rationalist(1953) andMetaphysics as a Guide to Morals(1992); other philosophical writings, includingThe Sovereignty of Good(1970), are collected inExistentialists and Mystics(1997).