In December 2016, the book discussion group met at The LGBT Center in NYC to discuss this novel by a famous, but now rather ignored, British writer.While one member couldn't finish the novel because of the language and several readers commented on the very thorough descriptions of every vista, bush, and extraneous thought expressed, all of us liked the novel and some of us rather loved it.It's a bit old fashioned (perhaps in the best possible way) and British (originally published and a best seller in 1958). But the psychology and insight into human behavior remains realistic, and the discussion why characters are attracted (and repulsed) to religion and to each other rings true. In many ways the plot seems like an old Agatha Christie mystery with a group of unlikely characters drawn to a country house with a series of extraordinary events unfolding to reveal the characters' motivations. A number of the jokes and wacky characters are still funny and clever.The novel starts a bit slowly, perhaps why a few readers had a problem getting interested in it at the beginning. After I got to Chapter 7, however, which describes Michael's and Nick's school affair that took place many years before the current events of the novel, I was committed to the story, the characters began to be rounded out, and the story takes flight. But I was captivated from the first pages and was WOW-ed by the end of the first chapter when Dora arrives at the train station for Imber Court with a butterfly in her clasped hands.The spiritual setting is not a deterrent. I never felt preached to, even though "The Bell" treats us to two extensive sermons that advance the nature of the characters and resonate with the plot. Murdoch is very even-handed in her treatment of religion and the non-religious, even pointing out the forced silence and presumed loneliness of the cloistered nuns. It's probably good to mention that all the names are very British and meaningful. The officious James Tayper Pace is always referred to with all three names (say it out loud), Nick stands in for the devil "Old Nick," and most of the religious community has appropriate New Testament names, which serves to make Toby stand out as a real outsider.The novel itself is full of parallel characters and mirrored events: James Tayper Pace and Michael - each with their very different but paired sermons, the drunk Nick and his idealized identical twin sister Catherine, mismatched couples such as the Greenfields and the Staffords, the two mishandled affairs that Michael has, two suicides, and even the two bells (which are like characters). "The Bell" was written well before Gay Liberation, but Michael's and Nick's homosexuality is very open and non-judgmental. There's little coming-out trauma or questioning of the characters' gayness although period-appropriate homophobia is realistically presented. (In retrospect, James Tayper Pace is probably also gay but celibate, and Toby will turn out to be bisexual.)The ending is a bit of farce: lots of running around, unexpected appearances of characters, costumed towns people, missed connections, and lifesaving nuns. One of the saddest moments in the novel, however, is the howling of Murphy the dog before the long denouement.It's worth thinking about what the physical bells represent (something that wakes you up, the truth mired in muck?), as well as Nick's final "sermon" and act of destruction.I had a hard time imagining the physical layout of the Imber buildings around the lake, so I've created a map and attached it. If anybody has corrections or another proposal, send them and I'll update my map.