Italian Girl

Rating:
Summary: Dark Family Drama
Review: I honestly can't ever imagine giving an Iris Murdoch novel less than four stars. Her books are almost uniformly well written and compelling. This is no exception.

The Italian Girl tells the story of an unhappy family on the eve of the death of the family matriarch. The characters include a spartan typesetter, two witchy Russian siblings, a disappointed housewife, and (of course) the Italian Girl.

I don't find this novel to be one of her strongest (not compared to books like The Bell or The Sandcastle) but then again, I can't imagine a book of hers that isn't worth reading.

Rating:
Summary: The Darkest Corners
Review: The dark, engrossing story of a family falling apart after the evil-sounding mother figure passes away. The main character Edmund returns to his childhood home to find his brother is living a quite complicated, mixed up lifestyle. Edmund tries to help all members of the family, but tries to not get too involved. A good dark family story, with a happy ending--for Edmund at least.