The Black Prince by Iris Murdoch

Bradley Pearson, an unsuccessful novelist in his late fifties, has finally left his dull office job as an Inspector of Taxes. Bradley hopes to retire to the country, but predatory friends and relations dash his hopes of a peaceful retirement. He is tormented by his melancholic sister, who has decided to come live with him; his ex-wife, who has infuriating hopes of redeeming the past; her delinquent brother, who wants money and emotional confrontations; and Bradley's friend and rival, Arnold Baffin, a younger, deplorably more successful author of commercial fiction. The ever-mounting action includes marital cross-purposes, seduction, suicide, abduction, romantic idylls, murder, and due process of law. Bradley tries to escape from it all but fails, leading to a violent climax and a coda that casts shifting perspectives on all that has preceded.

- Google

The 961st greatest fiction book of all time


This book is on the following lists:

  1. - 49th on 100 Best Books (Montana State University)
  2. - 65th on 100 Best Novels in English Since 1900 (Counterpunch)

Buy This Book

Name Binding Sales Rank Lowest New Lowest Used Published
The Black Prince: Vintage Classics Murdoch Series Paperback 1591537 $13.79 $27.31 2019
El principe negro/ The Black Prince (Spanish Edition) Paperback 9427132 $12.76 $12.75 2009
The Black Prince Mass Market Paperback 2557954 $4.91
The Black Prince Paperback 3262549 $5.89 $0.01 1983
The Black Prince (Penguin Classics) Paperback 154139 $8.47 $1.60
The Black Prince Hardcover 2132449 $106.48 $9.99
The Black Prince Mass Market Paperback 5510941 $46.00
The Black Prince Hardcover 1726980 $50.10 $1.00 1973
The Black Prince Mass Market Paperback 703239 $56.20 $0.94 1978
Three Plays: "Black Prince", "The Three Arrows" and "The Servants and the Snow" Hardcover 8238949 $100.00 $68.11 1989
The Black Prince (Penguin Classics) Kindle Edition 107526 $4.99 2003