Marian Taylor, a young English schoolteacher in her late twenties, accepts a position as governess at the remote Gaze Castle on the windswept Irish coast. Upon arrival, she discovers there are no children – instead, she’s to be companion to Hannah Crean-Smith, the beautiful but mysterious lady of the house.
Marian gradually learns that Hannah has been imprisoned in the castle for seven years by her husband Peter as punishment for having an affair with a neighbor, Pip Lejour, and allegedly attempting to murder Peter by pushing him off a cliff. Peter has been absent in New York ever since, but rumors suggest he may soon return.
Hannah is kept under the watchful control of Gerald Scottow, Peter’s former lover and the domineering head keeper of Gaze. The household staff and several devoted outsiders – including Effingham Cooper, a philosophy scholar who has loved Hannah for years – all conspire to keep Hannah comfortable but captive, treating her like an enchanted princess or sacred unicorn figure requiring worship and protection.
As Marian becomes drawn into this strange, claustrophobic world, she questions whether Hannah is an innocent victim deserving rescue, a guilty woman accepting her punishment, or something more complex. When Marian and Effingham attempt to help Hannah escape, the plan fails disastrously, setting in motion a tragic chain of events involving violence, death, and the unraveling of long-held secrets about guilt, suffering, and redemption.
Marian gradually learns that Hannah has been imprisoned in the castle for seven years by her husband Peter as punishment for having an affair with a neighbor, Pip Lejour, and allegedly attempting to murder Peter by pushing him off a cliff. Peter has been absent in New York ever since, but rumors suggest he may soon return.
Hannah is kept under the watchful control of Gerald Scottow, Peter’s former lover and the domineering head keeper of Gaze. The household staff and several devoted outsiders – including Effingham Cooper, a philosophy scholar who has loved Hannah for years – all conspire to keep Hannah comfortable but captive, treating her like an enchanted princess or sacred unicorn figure requiring worship and protection.
As Marian becomes drawn into this strange, claustrophobic world, she questions whether Hannah is an innocent victim deserving rescue, a guilty woman accepting her punishment, or something more complex. When Marian and Effingham attempt to help Hannah escape, the plan fails disastrously, setting in motion a tragic chain of events involving violence, death, and the unraveling of long-held secrets about guilt, suffering, and redemption.
Details
| Title: The Unicorn |
| Author: Iris Murdoch |
| ISBN: 9780140000000 |
| Subtitle: |
| Genre: Grier Rated; Fiction; Mystery; Romance |
| Subject(s): |
| Publication Date: 31783 |
| Original Publication Date: |
| Publisher: Penguin |
| Language: English |
| Format: Paperback |
| Pages: 272 |
| Rating: |
| Notes: Grier Rating: B Minor or subtle lesbian content |
| Book_ID: 102381 |