This novel, set at an elite English prep school and told from two points of view: one of the long-time masters, deeply entrenched in and loyal to the school, and the child of the school's porter/handyman, an outsider longing to be a part of the gilded youth who attend the schoolThe novel resonated with me on several levels. I once taught at a prep school (though it was in no way as grandiose as this one and the inter-faculty scheming nothing like.) I also understood the porter's child sense of an outsider looking at an unattainable world. For several years I met classes with the Great Smokies Writing Program at The Asheville School--an expensive and elite boarding school with a glorious campus. At first I found myself wanting to grab every passing student and ask if they knew how fortunate they were to be there. But this book. I found myself reading compulsively, caught up in the twists and turns of academic plotting, a most likeable teacher, and the wiles of an exceedingly clever child. And then, about midway through, I began to feel a little sickened--as one might having gobbled down unwholesome food. I should have been warned by a blurb that compared the book to Patricia Highsmith's The Talented Mr. Ripley. Mr. Ripley gave me that same sense of queasiness--not from gratuitous sex or violence but from the pervasive amorality of the main character.Nevertheless, I persevered. Events were tumbling together and the answers to several questions seemed close at hand. And then there was the most amazing twist--so amazing that I'm going to have to go back and look for any clues that might have hinted at this outcome.I marvel at the intricacy of the plotting. Quite an interesting novel! Available as an ebook for 1.99
Addendum: I did go back--not precisely a re-read, but paging through paying attention to certain names to see how the deception was managed.Brilliantly, that's how. I found my appreciation for the novel growing--to the point that I am tempted to download its sequel.
