The Headmaster's Wife
Will be published approx. on 1. May 2014
Book
Paperback/Softback
288 pages
978-1-78239-171-5 (ISBN)
Description
Arthur Winthrop is a middle-aged headmaster at an elite prep school in Vermont. When he is arrested for an act that is incredibly out of character, the strait-laced, married headmaster confesses to a much more serious crime.
Arthur reveals that he has had a passionate affair with a scholarship student called Betsy Pappas. But Betsy is a fickle and precocious teenager. When she switches her attentions to a classmate, Arthur's passion for Betsy turns, by degrees, into something far darker. Now Arthur must tell the truth about what happened to Betsy. But can Arthur's version of events be trusted - or is the reality much more complex and unnerving?
The Headmaster's Wife is a dark, sinuous and compelling novel about marriage and obsessive love.
Arthur reveals that he has had a passionate affair with a scholarship student called Betsy Pappas. But Betsy is a fickle and precocious teenager. When she switches her attentions to a classmate, Arthur's passion for Betsy turns, by degrees, into something far darker. Now Arthur must tell the truth about what happened to Betsy. But can Arthur's version of events be trusted - or is the reality much more complex and unnerving?
The Headmaster's Wife is a dark, sinuous and compelling novel about marriage and obsessive love.
Reviews / Votes
A truly remarkable novel. I read the second half of The Headmaster's Wife with my mouth open, my jaw having dropped at the end of the first. Thomas Christopher Greene knows how to hook a reader and land him -- Richard Russo, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of EMPIRE FALLS An accomplished and artful storyteller, Greene has surprises in store as he unspools a plot that becomes as poignant as it is unpredictable -- Wally Lamb, New York Times bestselling author of THE HOUR I FIRST BELIEVED I devoured this book. Both psychologically complex and wickedly fast paced -- Julianna Baggott, bestselling author of PURE Incredibly beautiful and compulsively readable, The Headmaster's Wife will keep you mesmerized into the wee hours. A master storyteller, Greene's biggest achievement is proving that the most complex mystery of all is how and why we love -- Kimberly McCreight, bestselling author of RECONSTRUCTING AMELIA Greene's haunting tale tracks the unraveling of a marriage. It starts, eerily, with a naked man's arrest... then twists back in time through love, grief, betrayal, and love again * Good Housekeeping US * Nothing is what it appears in this brilliant story of a life gone awry... The author's true intentions make this tale even more remarkable, for the book is, at its core, a trenchant examination of one family's terrible loss and how the aftermath of tragedy can make or break a person's soul * Publishers Weekly *More details
Edition
Main
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Atlantic Books
Dimensions
Height: 210 mm
Width: 147 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-78239-171-5 (9781782391715)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
Thomas Christopher Greene was born and raised in Worcester, Massachusetts. Tom has worked in a staple factory; as an oyster shucker; as a speechwriter and spokesperson for a presidential campaign; as the director of public affairs for two colleges; and as a professor of writing and literature. In 2006, Tom founded the Vermont College of Fine Arts, a top New England arts college, making him the youngest college president in America at that time.