 Cover of the first edition | |
| Author | Iris Murdoch |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Max Beckmann[1] |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Chatto & Windus |
Publication date | 1976 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 340 |
| ISBN | 0701121955 |
| OCLC | 644376533 |
Henry and Cato is a novel by Iris Murdoch. Published in 1976, it was her eighteenth novel.
Set in London and the English countryside, the plot centres on two childhood friends who have not seen each other for several years. Henry is an art historian who returns to England from the United States upon inheriting his family estate, and Cato is a Roman Catholic priest who is losing his faith and has secretly fallen in love with a seventeen-year-old boy . Their stories, separate at the beginning of the novel, converge as it progresses.
The complex story is supported by formal plot symmetries and doubleness is an important theme throughout. The plot, which involves a violent kidnapping, has elements of the thriller genre. The book was generally favourably received by contemporary reviewers.
- ^ Saint Louis Art Museum. "Acrobat on Trapeze, 1940". Highlights of the Collection.