We've rounded up 20 great books we think everyone should read by 50

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20 books everyone should read in their fifties

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Where to start reading Iris Murdoch’s books

The Sea, The Sea

(Vintage Classics Murdoch Series)

One of the most ambitious tours de force in many years... There are pages one races through to see what happens. She is a virtuoso at description

There is no doubt in my mind that Iris Murdoch is one of the most important novelists now writing in English...The power of her imaginative vision, her intelligence and her awareness and revelation of human truth are quite remarkable

A fabulous novel...funny and poignant and is arguably Murdoch's finest hour

An enjoyable, thought-provoking and unforgettable novel

A fantastic feat of imagination as well as a marvellous sustained piece of writing

Iris Murdoch (Author) Iris Murdoch was born in Dublin in 1919. She read Classics at Somerville College, Oxford, and after working in the Treasury and abroad, was awarded a research studentship in Philosophy at Newnham College, Cambridge. In 1948 she returned to Oxford as fellow and tutor at St Anne's College and later taught at the Royal College of Art. Until her death in 1999, she lived in Oxford with her husband, the academic and critic, John Bayley. She was made a Dame of the British Empire in 1987 and in the 1997 PEN Awards received the Gold Pen for Distinguished Service to Literature. Daisy Johnson (Introducer) Daisy Johnson was born in 1990. Her debut short-story collection, Fen, was published in 2016. In 2018 she became the youngest author ever to be shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize with her debut novel Everything Under. She is the winner of the Harper’s Bazaar Short Story Prize, A. M. Heath Prize and Edge Hill Short Story Prize. Her debut play, Viola’s Room, was produced in 2024 by the immersive theatre company Punchdrunk. She currently lives in Oxford by the river. John Burnside (Introducer) John Burnside was among the most acclaimed writers of his generation. His novels, short stories, poetry and memoirs won numerous awards, including the Geoffrey Faber Memorial, Saltire Scottish Book of the Year and, in 2023, he received the David Cohen Prize for a lifetime’s achievement in literature. In 2011 Black Cat Bone won both the Forward and the T.S. Eliot Prizes for poetry.

Charles Arrowby has determined to spend the rest of his days in hermit-like contemplation. 
 
He buys a mysteriously damp house on the coast, far from the heady world of the theatre where he made his name, and there he swims in the sea, eats revolting meals and writes his memoirs. But then he meets his childhood sweetheart Hartley, and memories of her lovely, younger self crowd in – along with more recent lovers and friends – to disrupt his self-imposed exile. So instead of ‘learning to be good’, Charles proceeds to demonstrate how very bad he can be. 
 
‘It isn’t all brainy fantasising in Murdochland; there’s wild swimming, appalling sandwiches, death, madness and sex’ Guardian 
 
‘Dazzlingly entertaining and inventive’ The Times 
 
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY DAISY JOHNSON 
 
**WINNER OF THE BOOKER PRIZE**

The Black Prince

Murdoch is at the height of her powers in this novel, combining a complex plot with a heartrending analysis of the meaning of love

The best all-round novel that I&rsquo;ve read. It&rsquo;s a brilliant crime novel and a love story that&rsquo;s beautifully written

This is her best novel in my opinion&hellip; It has a breathtaking narrative skill and a triumphant ending

Every artist is an unhappy lover. And unhappy lovers want to tell their story. 
 
Ex-tax collector and author of two unpopular novels Bradley Pearson wishes to devote his retirement to writing a masterpiece. But the doorbell and the phone keep ringing, and every ring brings with it an ex-wife, a friend in need, a sister in trouble or a young woman seeking a teacher. And so, dusty, selfish Bradley is plunged into the muddles and mysteries that will end in his doom. 
 
‘A source of wonder and delight’ 
Spectator 
 
‘Her humour is all the more achingly funny because she keeps it on the edge of our vision’ 
Daily Mail 
 
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY SOPHIE HANNAH

The Sandcastle

Iris Murdoch was born in Dublin in 1919. She read Classics at Somerville College, Oxford, and after working in the Treasury and abroad, was awarded a research studentship in Philosophy at Newnham College, Cambridge. In 1948 she returned to Oxford as fellow and tutor at St Anne's College and later taught at the Royal College of Art. Until her death in 1999, she lived in Oxford with her husband, the academic and critic, John Bayley. She was made a Dame of the British Empire in 1987 and in the 1997 PEN Awards received the Gold Pen for Distinguished Service to Literature.

When Bill Mor falls in love with Rain Carter he discovers a new way of being. 
 
Suddenly there is joy to be found in the world and his surroundings. To be with Rain he must abandon his prosaic life as a schoolmaster, his domineering wife Nan and his troubled teenaged children. He must draw on the powers of selfishness, hatred and anger in order to make the final break. But what love could survive all that violence? 
 
‘One of her most haunting works... She is spectacularly enigmatic’ Philippa Gregory 
 
‘An absolutely scintillating, slightly bizarre page-turner’ Daily Mail 
 
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY BIDISHA

A Fairly Honourable Defeat

Everyone is thinking about Julius King. 
 
For comfortable, long-married Hilda and Rupert, he is a mystery. For Morgan, Hilda's tormented sister, he is an obsession. For Morgan's abandoned husband, Tallis, he is the source of ruin. For Simon and Axel, deeply in love, he stirs up jealousy and unease. What is Julius thinking about? He's thinking about Hilda, Rupert, Morgan, Tallis, Simon and Axel, and they will not all survive his malevolent attention. 
 
'The most important novelist writing in my time' A. S. Byatt 
 
‘Murdoch’s art was expansive, non-autobiographical and insistently inventive’ 
Daily Telegraph 
 
‘Above all, she was a consummate story-teller, prodigiously inventive and generous’ 
Independent 
 
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY GARTH GREENWELL

A BBC Radio Collection

Iris Murdoch: The Sea, The Sea, A Severed Head & Something Special

Full-cast dramatisations and a reading of works by Iris Murdoch, plus a bonus interview with the author herself

Iris Murdoch (Author) Iris Murdoch was born in Dublin in 1919. She read Classics at Somerville College, Oxford, and after working in the Treasury and abroad, was awarded a research studentship in Philosophy at Newnham College, Cambridge. In 1948 she returned to Oxford as fellow and tutor at St Anne's College and later taught at the Royal College of Art. Until her death in 1999, she lived in Oxford with her husband, the academic and critic, John Bayley. She was made a Dame of the British Empire in 1987 and in the 1997 PEN Awards received the Gold Pen for Distinguished Service to Literature.

Full-cast dramatisations and a reading of works by Iris Murdoch, plus a bonus interview with the author herself 
 
Booker Prize-winning author Iris Murdoch is renowned for her sublime fiction, exploring themes such as art, passion, morality and human freedom. Included in this collection are adaptations of two of her finest novels and a reading of her only published short story, as well as an edition of Writers Revealed in which Murdoch discusses her ideas and beliefs. 
 
The Sea, The Sea 
Charles Arrowby, celebrated actor, writer and director, has retired from his London world and come to the sea to become a hermit and draft his memoirs. But the past will not let him rest… This dramatisation of Murdoch’s most famous novel, which won the Booker Prize in 1978, stars John Wood as Charles and Joyce Redman as Hartley. 
 
A Severed Head 
When Martin Lynch-Gibbon's wife runs off with her analyst and his best friend, Palmer Anderson, the three characters attempt to behave in a civilised manner. But there is the matter of Martin's mistress and Palmer's sister to contend with – and undoubtedly the thin veneer of civilisation will crack… Iris Murdoch’s blackly comic satire on analysis and amorality stars Julian Rhind-Tutt, Victoria Hamilton and Matthew Marsh. 
 
Something Special 
Young Irishwoman Yvonne passionately believes that there is more to life than marriage to Sam, a respectable tailor's apprentice. But a night out in Dublin forces her to confront reality… Read by Catherine Cusack. 
 
Writers Revisited: Iris Murdoch 
Iris Murdoch talks about faith, religion and the creative process in conversation with Rosemary Hartill.

The Sandcastle (Vintage Classics Murdoch Series)

Iris Murdoch's tragic, comic tale of love and lust – now republished as part of the Vintage Classics Murdoch Series – six gorgeous editions of her best, funniest and most subversive novels published to mark her centenary.

It's all dry sand running through the fingers.' 
 
 When Bill Mor falls in love with Rain Carter he discovers a new way of being and a new joy in the world and his surroundings. To be with Rain he must abandon his prosaic life as a schoolmaster, his domineering wife Nan and his troubled teenaged children. He must draw on the powers of selfishness, hatred and anger in order to make the final break. But what love could survive all that violence? 
 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY BIDISHA 
 
 VINTAGE CLASSICS MURDOCH: Funny, subversive, fearless and fiercely intelligent, Iris Murdoch was one of the great writers of the twentieth century. To celebrate her centenary Vintage Classics presents special editions of her greatest and most timeless novels.

How bloody good her novels are – how intelligent, how lucent, how divinely crazy. They’re fun – I’d forgotten that.

One of her most haunting works... She is spectacularly enigmatic

Her characters are described with loving exactitude and in such depth that their struggles to define what it means to live a good life take on dramatic force.

Iris Murdoch is incapable of writing without fascinating and beautiful colour

She believes in everything: true love, veridical visions, magic, monsters, pagan spirits. Her world is ignited by belief

An absolutely scintillating, slightly bizarre, page-turner

'It's all dry sand running through the fingers.' 
 
When Bill Mor falls in love with Rain Carter he discovers a new way of being and a new joy in the world and his surroundings. To be with Rain he must abandon his prosaic life as a schoolmaster, his domineering wife Nan and his troubled teenaged children. He must draw on the powers of selfishness, hatred and anger in order to make the final break. But what love could survive all that violence? 
 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY BIDISHA 
 
 VINTAGE CLASSICS MURDOCH: Funny, subversive, fearless and fiercely intelligent, Iris Murdoch was one of the great writers of the twentieth century. To celebrate her centenary Vintage Classics presents special editions of her greatest and most timeless novels.

Iris Murdoch

A. S. Byatt

Imber Court is a quiet haven for lost souls. 
 
It offers a sanctuary for those who can neither live in the world, nor out of it. But beneath the gentle daily routines of the community run currents of supressed desire, religious yearning and a legend of disastrous love. Charming, indolent Dora arrives in the midst of all this, and half-unwittingly conjures these submerged things to the surface. 
 
‘She’s writing about the only things that matter – love, goodness and how to be happy’ 
Independent 
 
‘A book that everyone who’s ever been tempted to throw in the towel and become a hermit should read’ 
Guardian 
 
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY SARAH PERRY

Iris Murdoch

The Bell

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