Rewind, book: 'The Sea, The Sea' by Iris Murdoch

by Iris Murdoch

Chatto & Windus

Poor Charles Arrowby. The former doyen of the London theatre scene and ladies' man about town is desperate to get away from it all. He retreats to the coast, where the glistening waters are both lover and mythical beast, a place of dreams and nightmares.

At times the deep azure exudes utter tranquillity, at others it's an unforgiving mass of the dark unknown that changes mood on a whim. Having left behind the gossip and glamour of the West End and moved into the aptly named Shruff End, an isolated, ramshackle cottage teetering precariously on the cliffs overlooking the brooding North Sea, the sometimes avuncular but mostly self-satisfied old man - now retired and in a state of deep reflection - sets about writing his memoirs.

Of particular interest are his countless love interests down the years - from ravishing young vixens of the West End stage to older, married women who taught him the rich complexities of lives lived full of passion and drama. But it isn't long before he is distracted from the task at hand by the mesmerising pull of the waters, the cottage and the past.