"The Sea, The Sea," by Iris Murdoch

This was the top pick from our most recent poll! You went with a longer one this time (528 pages). The Sea, the Sea follows a retired theatre director who withdraws to a lonely house by the coast, hoping for peace but instead finding himself entangled in memories. With sharp insight and dark wit, Iris Murdoch examines self-delusion, desire, and the fragile stories we tell ourselves about love and control.

From Goodreads:
Winner of the Booker Prize—a tale of the strange obsessions that haunt a playwright as he composes his memoirs

Charles Arrowby, leading light of England’s theatrical set, retires from glittering London to an isolated home by the sea. He plans to write a memoir about his great love affair with Clement Makin, his mentor, both professionally and personally, and amuse himself with Lizzie, an actress he has strung along for many years. None of his plans work out, and his memoir evolves into a riveting chronicle of the strange events and unexpected visitors-some real, some spectral-that disrupt his world and shake his oversized ego to its very core.