Jackson's Dilemma

by Iris Murdoch Narrated by Juliet Mills

Overview

Edward Lannion is to marry the lovely Marian Fox. But on the eve of the wedding, Marian's note leaves everyone in a tizzy and full of questions: Where is Marian? And who is Jackson? In this intricately plotted novel, a mysterious, charismatic English butler derails the marriage of his master, a young aristocrat, and his fiancé, sending them both off on strange, dark, and amusing paths.

Editorial Reviews

James Marcus

Ever since she made her debut with Under The Net, Iris Murdoch has continued to perfect the freewheeling novel of ideas, in which philosophical positions are happily subordinated to the quirks and tics of human character. Jackson's Dilemma continues this literary hot streak, which has now lasted for more than forty years. As the novel opens, a storybook marriage is about to take place between Edward Lannion, the master of an idyllic country manor called Hatting Hall, and Marian Fox. The night before the ceremony, however, Marian shocks Edward and a half-dozen friends by bailing out, without a word of explanation. The immediate effect is bafflement, tinged in every case by "very private griefs, losses, regrets, and disappointments." Yet Marian's no-show eventually brings about a Shakespearean reshuffling among the characters, each of whom ends up with the appropriate beloved. To whom do we owe this spate of happy endings? Part of the credit must go to Jackson, a mysterious butler who seems to dabble in angelic intervention. But, this being a Murdoch novel, I'd also suggest that there's a kind of Platonic machinery at work, which inclines the characters toward love as a heightened form of consciousness. This doesn't, of course, take romantic passion out of the picture. At one point Murdoch compares the process of falling in love to "someone undergoing, still conscious, a very serious operation by a wonderful surgeon whom he trusted utterly, and all the time his eyes were open." That captures it very nicely, Platonic or otherwise. -- Salon

Library Journal

The friends and relatives of Edward Lannion and Marian Fox are gathered at Hatting Hall in readiness for their wedding. On the night before the ceremony is to take place, however, Edward receives word that Marian cannot go through with it. Thus begins a search for the missing Marian that will significantly change the course of events. Although this is lighter than the usual fare served by Murdoch (The Green Knight, LJ 12/1/93), it still explores the big religious and philosophical questions. And as usual, there is a mysterious figure hovering at the periphery, quietly affecting the lives of all the players. In this case, it is a manservant called Jackson, who has insinuated himself into the lives of the main characters and who, while attending to their needs, has made himself indispensable. Although not quite up to Murdoch's usual standards, this romantic novel is recommended for literary collections. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 9/15/95.]-Barbara Love, Kingston P.L., Ontario

Harold Bloom

Murdoch's particular mastery is in representing the maelstrom of falling in love, which is the characteristic activity of nearly all her men and women. -- The New York Times Book Review

Product Details

BN ID:	2940175761642
Publisher:	Phoenix Books, Inc.
Publication date:	06/01/2002
Edition description:	Unabridged

Videos