The philandering husband seems to get off easy in Murdoch's novel - but more is in store for him

So the plot such as it is in Iris Murdoch's The Sacred and Profane Love Machine (1974) involves a seemingly happily married man (Blaise) and father of an increasingly estranged boy (David, about 10) has been carrying on a 9+-year relationship with a 20-something woman (Emily) who lives in a nearby part of London, and they have an 8-year-old son (Luca). This is more than a relationship! Blaise supports his "mistress" and their son - leading to financial strain in his home and marriage and to lots of jealousy as Emily (rightly) believes she's living in poverty while the wife (Harriet) lives in relative comfort. Blaise also spends a lot of time with Emily; how does he manage that? He's concocted a story that he has a patient (he's a lay analyst) who requires home visits. That's preposterous on the face of it: home visits that entail spending the night? Week after week? But let's just accept the facts on the ground in this novel; the story is really about the interior lives of each of the characters, how this, and other, domestic dramas can warp and change personalities and relationships. Blaise lives in dread of being "found out," and as the novel begins he learns that son Luca has tracked him down to his suburban home - and he suspects it's only a matter of time before Harriet learns to the affair - so he writes her a long letter of confession and apology. She spends the morning in tears, and when he returns home to her at noon she embraces him, assures him that she loves him and wants to keep their marriage. He's damn lucky - one would expect fury and vengeance. and shame about her own gullibility. So he's off the hook - but we're less than half-way through the novel so we expect things won't be as easy as first they seem, esp in that Harriet says she wants to meet Emily and Luca. Blaise is obviously uneasy about that, to which we say "screw him" - and I anticipate some kind of alliance between the 2 women in his life.

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