A Norton critical edition

Jude Fawley, poor and working-class, longs to study at the University of Christminster, but he is rebuffed, and trapped in a loveless marriage. He falls in love with his unconventional cousin Sue Bridehead, and their refusal to marry when free to do so confirms their rejection of and by the world around them. The shocking fate that overtakes them is an indictment of a rigid and uncaring society.

This first British edition includes a final chapter as well as explanatory annotations and textual notes. Included also is a glossary with origins of terms that inspired Alex's vocabulary, and which enlightens the reader as to the process Burgess used to develop the novel's distinctive style. Backgrounds and contexts enriches the reader's understanding of the historical roots and criticism is divided into two sections, one addressing the novel and the other Stanley Kubrick's film version, which created a scandal and new audiences for the book after its 1972 release.