Iris Murdoch: The Retrospective Fiction traces the preoccupation in Murdochs fiction with the way the past makes its mark upon us, haunting us and eluding our attempts to grasp it. This argument was given an extra resonance by the death of Murdoch after Alzheimers disease in 1999, when the book was first published - a curious blurring of life and work typical of the posthumous reassessment of Murdoch. This new edition includes detailed readings of novels not discussed in the original ( The Bell, The Sacred and Profane Love Machine , and The Philosophers Pupil ) and includes a new preface, an updated bibliography and three new chapters covering Murdochs most important and popular novels, considering in more depth her relationship with the dominant literary and intellectual currents of her time.