Description
A Word Child follows Hilary Burde, a man shaped by a delinquent past and haunted by a tragic accident that still governs his sense of self. Saved by education yet denied the life he imagined—through love, loss, and the slow unraveling of his choices—Hilary clings to his guilt as both punishment and proof that he cannot be forgiven too easily. In Iris Murdoch’s character-driven, philosophically charged style, the novel explores remorse, moral responsibility, and the difficult possibility of redemption when the past refuses to stay buried. Blending psychological insight with a searching examination of how we live with our own “original sin,” it becomes an adventurous study of whether change is possible—or only ever imagined.
Available Editions
paperback
Penguin Group
Published Jan 1, 1987
406 pages
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Details
First Published
1975
Language
eng
Content Warnings
No content warnings identified.