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Prize winning author Naomi Alderman takes us deep into the psyche of an Oxford undergraduate who gets welcomed into the 'in-group' surrounding a gay, bi-polar aristocrat complete with stunning good looks, a dominating Catholic Italian mother, some hovering monks, a crumbling mansion (besides other residences) and thoroughly unpredictable behaviour.
Hidden away in an Oxford back street is a crumbling Georgian mansion, unknown to any but the few who possess a key to its unassuming front gate. Its owner is the mercurial, charismatic Mark Winters, whose rackety trust-fund upbringing has left him as troubled and unpredictable as he is wildly promiscuous.
Mark gathers around him an impressionable group of students: glamorous Emmanuella, who always has a new boyfriend in tow; Franny and Simon, best friends and occasional lovers; musician Jess, whose calm exterior hides passionate depths. And James, already damaged by Oxford and looking for a group to belong to.
For a time they live in a charmed world of learning and parties and love affairs. But university is no grounding for adult life, and when, years later, tragedy strikes they are entirely unprepared.
Naomi Alderman's ''The Lessons'' reflects the truth that the lessons life teaches often come too late.
Paperback, 292 Pages, Orig. Publ. 2011, This Edition Publ. April 2018
Author: Naomi Alderman
Reviews:
“ Beautifully written, satisfyingly complex ” - New Statesman
“ With cool, crisp aplomb, Alderman charts mercurial Mark's increasingly erratic behaviour, a path to ruination that is waymarked by an unsuitable marriage, a desperate affair and a terrible tragedy ” - Daily Mail
“ A glittering style, a compulsive pleasure. A seductive homage to Donna Tartt and Brideshead Revisited'' - Metro