A small community of lay people live at an English estate just outside the gates of an abbey of cloistered nuns. A young wife and a matriculating college student visit at an exciting time: the abbey will soon get a new bell, to replace the medieval one that was lost long ago under legendary circumstances. The young visitors stir up turmoil within the apparently tranquil community.
The Bell would be an excellent novel to read in a college English class. It takes place over a short period of time, almost entirely on the grounds of Imber Estate, with a small cast of characters. Its themes and symbols are very near the surface, ripe for discussion. There's the bell, of course, but also birds (starting with one that Dora rescues from the floor of the train) and the literal boundary between the spiritual realm and the secular world (a building in the abbey wall in which one half of each room is outside and the other half inside of the enclosure, with a grille and gauze screen between).
The first chapter, with Dora's train ride to Imber, could stand on its own as a short story while also introducing one of the key conflicts. I loved the descriptions of the Estate and its grounds, except for a few too many "rights" and "lefts"; the setting was peaceful and clearly drawn. Only a few of the characters got proper development, though.
The Bell is the first Iris Murdoch book I've read. It's an early one: her fourth novel. Its story of people in a self-satisfied community struggling with their desires reminded me vaguely of John Updike with a British gloss.
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