The Headmaster's Wife

by Thomas Christopher Greene

Inspired by a personal loss, Greene explores the way that tragedy and time assail one man’s memories of his life and loves.

Like his father before him, Arthur Winthrop is the Headmaster of Vermont’s elite Lancaster School. It is the place he feels has given him his life, but is also the site of his undoing as events spiral out of his control. Found wandering naked in Central Park, he begins to tell his story to the police, but his memories collide into one another, and the true nature of things, a narrative of love, of marriage, of family and of a tragedy Arthur does not know how to address emerges.

Luminous and atmospheric, bringing to life the tight-knit enclave of a quintessential New England boarding school, the novel is part mystery, part love story and an exploration of the ties of place and family. Beautifully written and compulsively readable, The Headmaster’s Wife stands as a moving elegy to the power of love as an antidote to grief.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Book Club, Contemporary, Literary Fiction, Adult Fiction, Thriller

288 pages, Hardcover

First published February 25, 2014

About the author

Thomas Christopher Greene is the author of 7 books, six critically acclaimed novels including the international bestseller, The Headmaster's Wife, and the collection of tiny true stories, Notes From the Porch. He is the founder of the Vermont College of Fine Arts and served as president for 13 years. His fiction has been translated into thirteen languages. He makes his home in Montpelier, Vermont and can be found online on instagram and facebook @thomaschristophergreene

Reviews

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

My second experience with this author's storytelling found me as equally impressed as the first. There’s a quiet beauty to Thomas Christopher Greene's writing, his words stirring a haunting curiosity in this reader.

The story opens with the police prompting a man to explain his nude wandering through Central Park. Arthur Winthrop, the very man in question and headmaster of an elite boarding school in picturesque Vermont, delves in, sharing his truth.

Intentionally murky, the storyline left me waffling between Arthur experiencing some sort of episode and thoughts that something far darker was on the horizon. Utilizing timeline changes, memories, and flashbacks, Thomas Christopher Greene gives just enough to hold the reader's interest, all while maintaining a slightly off-kilter equilibrium.

Having spent his entire childhood on campus, Lancaster School is in Arthur’s blood. It only seemed natural to take the reigns from his father and carry on the Headmaster legacy.

The storyline unspools slowly, but with intention. There's the inevitable student/teacher affair, distant wife and father disappointed in his son’s life choices. Although, perspective is everything.

Elizabeth, the Headmaster’s wife, was the character that offered up the most intrigue for me. It felt, at times, as if she was giving a voice to some of my very own thoughts and struggles.

And then there are women, like her, who don't know if they even want a kid at all, and with that feeling comes a weird guilt, because what could be more fucked up than not doing what your body suggests is the one thing you were born to do? It's like turning your back to the ocean for no other reason than that you dislike beauty.

A compelling literary thriller, The Headmaster's Wife takes the reader by the hand, leading the way down what initially appears to be a crowded and somewhat predictable path. In actuality, it's an unforeseen journey that transpires among the pages. My only contention with the ending. While it went a long way to set some underlying wrongs right, I can't say I wholeheartedly liked how things played out.

Thomas Christopher Greene closes the novel on an emotional note. His candid and heartfelt acknowledgment gives readers a glimpse at the inspiration and headspace driving the story.

[Annet · Rating 4 out of 5]

A layered story of love, unbearable loss, and grief.

Wonderful read. Tragic ... unexpected turn of events in the course of the story. A sad story really... beautifully written. Scenery of Eastern Canada beautifully described.
Easy flowing read, once you start, you just want to move on and get to the outcome. Intriguing... Story seems quite logical, until it takes a turn.... 4.5. Recommended!
And thanks to Goodreads and my Goodreads friends, for I found this book here.... what a grand source of books GR is!

Like his father before him, Arthur Winthrop is the headmaster of Vermont's elite Lancaster school. It is the place he feels has given him his life, but is also the site of his undoing as events spiral out of his control. Found wandering naked in Central Park, he begins to tell his story to the police, but his memories collide into one another, and the true nature of things, a narrative of love, marriage, family and of a tragedy Arthur does not know how to address, emerges. Luminous and atmospheric, bringing to life the tight-knit enclave of a quintessential New England boarding school...

What seems to be a deceptively simple story about the headmaster of a New England boarding school and his wife, facing late middle age and growing apart over differences of opinion on their teenage son, morphed into a haunting, mysterious page-turner.... A meditation on longing in all of life's stages.... - Concord Monitor

Nothing is what is appears in this brilliant story of a life gone awry... 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...- Publisher's Weekly

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, here’s me searching through edelweiss catalog and I come across a book coming in 2019 called The Perfect Liar by Thomas Christopher Greene. It sounds amazing and I need it desperately! I send a request and I am asked have I read his book The Headmasters Wife. I have not, so I read the blurb real and quick and I’m like well, damn I need this too. ONE CLICK!

Holy shizzzz, when I got to 50% I was SHOOK. I was like wait WHAT?!?! I honest to God Thought I had it figured it out by the prologue. I am even texting my friend, Jamie (hey girl) saying i think I know what’s going on. So, I’m just reading through like oh, I so know where this is going. UM NOPE!

The first half of the book is told through the POV of Arthur, the headmaster of a boarding school. I loved his half. It was so interesting and also cringeworthy. I’m saying to myself, Arthur don’t you dare!

The second half is told through the eyes of Elizabeth. It gives us more of the back story which I thoroughly enjoyed! I will say I liked the first half a wee bit more but nonetheless I loved this BOOK!!! I loved the story, how it was written and the characters.

I am so excited to get my hands on this authors new book in 2019. I recommend!!! 4.5 Stars fosho!!

[Sessygail · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, up until the last few pages, I was thinking this would be a four star read. It was well-written and well-crafted...up until the end, where, it seems, the author ran out of interest in telling this story and just abruptly closed it. Very odd.

[Jennifer Masterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

4 and 3/4 Stars! "The Headmaster's Wife" is truly a great and unique read. It twists and turns like a thriller but deals with grief and loss at the same time. I've never read anything like this. I don't want to give away too much because it is best to go into this novel not knowing anything. I never would have read this but two people outside of Goodreads had recommended it to me. The first time someone told me about it I saw the cover and passed. I'm big on covers and the cover is so blah and made me think it was going to be boring. Then someone else told me to read it and I took it as a sign. I'm so glad I did. It's not boring in the least!!!

It is also so beautifully written. At times almost poetic. I highly recommend it!!!

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could not put it down! This was a gripping novel about how we deal with grief and what it does to tear us apart. As I got into the first part of the book, I wasn't sure I liked the way it was going, but it was written so well, I could stop reading. Then...smack, about halfway through it takes a turn I was not expecting at all. It ended up being a great read, and offers a lot of food for thought on what might have been if just any one of the circumstances for the main characters had been different...we never know how the seeds we plant in our early years will end up harvesting later in life...

[Diane S ☔ · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is no doubt that the weather here the last few days made the setting for this book really stand out. Fallish, cool weather, back to school and this story that takes place at an insular prep school the Northeast.

Loved how the author drops the reader right into the middle of the story and how aware we are of that but not of what has actually happened. Quite a jolt with the surprise at the end of the first part.

The closed world of a live in school, where expectations are passed from father to son. A staying in place, in a way not really growing up, and out, a world and community all its own. Relationships made, marriages, children, things said between a man and woman and what happens when one is lost. Played everything the right way and still floundered.

Found this to be quite good, writing is straightforward but evocative, setting and tone perfect for the story. Whether you like the characters or not doesn't really matter, it is a story of a relationship, loosing ones moors and trying to find a new way when the old is no longer viable.

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautifully told story of love and loss and the choices we make in life. It opens with the Headmaster of a prestigious but insular Vermont school, Arthur Winthrop, being found wandering naked in New York's Central Park. Taken into custody by the police he slowly tells them how his life has spiraled out of control due to an obsessive love affair. Half way through the book, the story switches to the Headmaster's wife Elizabeth and we gradually learn more of her and Arthur's stories and what has brought them to this point.
The atmosphere of the school was well conveyed, not just as a beautiful place in Vermont but as a suffocating, closed environment where behaviour must be correct and conventional. I enjoyed the way the author skillfully morphed the novel from what appeared to be a story of forbidden love to one that was much more complex, at the same time totally our feelings towards Arthur. 4.5★

[Bren fall in love with the sea. · Rating 4 out of 5]

“And she thinks perhaps that is what love is: letting someone else see that part of you that shatters like glass".
― Thomas Christopher Greene, The Headmaster's Wife


When Arthur Winthrop, the head of a Boarding school in Vermont, is found wandering naked in Central Park, he is brought into police headquarters. There he begins to tell his story.

And what a story it is. This book I never saw coming. There is a twist that is done in the most smooth, well written way.

The book, The Headmaster's wife is about grief and mourning and regret and loneliness. I enjoyed it so much I picked it as a read for my former book club, (one of my book clubs.)

This book was lovely to read and it is worth mentioning that I started it, intending to read only a few pages because it was late and I was not really in a reading mode at that moment. I got carried away and read to the end. I think any fan of Literary Fiction will want to add this to their list and I am so glad I had the chance to read this.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Headmaster’s Wife Simply Stunning

Like all good stories this has a beginning a middle and an end and have called the three parts; Acrimony, Expectations and After just to help us out. I am sure there will be plenty of people that will try and pigeon hole this book, as literary or psychological thriller but I am adding a new pigeon hole – its bloody good.

Arthur Winthrop is a middle aged headmaster of an elite school in Vermont who is found running naked through New York’s Central Park on a cold and snowy day. While in custody he owns up to an even worse crime that like in Lolita the Headmaster had fallen in love with and carried out an illicit affair with a student. Not only that he had had carried out an illicit affair but things worsened when she started dating a student.

What we get is a stunning novel in the first half with its dark undertones of obsessive lust for a schoolgirl and her betrayal at all levels and the whole section is narrated by Arthur making his statement to the police who then looks as guilty as hell. Is he making this confession of his own free will? What is compelling is the narration which seems so dark, obsessive dealing with love, lust, grief, marriage and loss.

The Acrimony hooks you and Expectations winds you in like a salmon on a fly hook totally stunned and enthralled you just want to read on. The obsession that takes hold of Arthur Winthrop also gets under the skin of the read you not want but need to read on as this is a fast paced and complex that is so brilliant in this book. This is everything you want and need to read and gives complete enjoyment to the reader I cannot recommend The Headmaster’s Wife highly enough.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is cleverly written!! I found it unusual in the fact there was no build up to the story, the beginning places you slap dab in the middle of it. The prose is sparse but beautiful. Hard to put down! I will definitely read more of Mr. Greene's books.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has a lot of shallow things going for it: attractive cover, interesting sounding premise (hello it's set at a boarding school in Vermont), good author blurbs, double spaced text on smallish pages to make you think you're a really good and fast reader.... but then it falls flat in all the important ways. I thought it was pretty obvious from the start that Arthur is an unreliable narrator, and there's just nothing subtle in the story. I didn't care about any of the characters-- not in the "I think these are bad people" care but "I'm not getting anything of substance from any of this" care.

[Lisa Dresdner · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh, so bad, it made me sad. I had been intrigued by reviews of this novel that noted the three different perspectives from which the story is told, how each perspective informs the previous one so that readers gained new understandings of the characters. The reviews were generous. In spite of quickly getting the sense that this novel was not going to go anywhere near where I’d hoped, I kept reading because I really kept hoping for something more. However, this novel is among those that I (sadly) have wasted far too much time on. The first narrator (the headmaster)is not particularly likable: he is arrogant, selfish, and manipulative. While this section was quite lengthy, I reminded myself that the different POVs would likely shed light on this part of the story or the characters and reveal to me why I should care about the them and their lives. Unfortunately, the second section is written in a completely dispassionate omniscient voice, and while the unsurprising tragedy of the narrator’s life is revealed immediately, smart readers already knew what that event would be and, while we may be sad about the events, the narrative style does not elicit or evoke any sympathy for the characters. The third section brings us back to the present again, and this is where the story begins to turn its focus more directly on the wife of the title. In fact, I’m not even sure why the title emphasizes the wife, because she is merely the rather passive “victim” of her husband’s actions, and she's not particularly engaging either. Again, the narrative voice didn’t make me care about her any more than I cared about her husband, which is to say that one hour would be too much to waste on this novel so, dear reader, heed my warning and don’t bother!

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Headmaster's Wife is about love, class, family, and expectations, but it is ultimately a story about how people grieve. A novel in three parts, the first part is told from the point of view of Arthur Winthrop, headmaster of an elite prep school in Vermont called Lancaster. The second part of the story is told from the point of view of his wife, Elizabeth, and she presents a slightly different version of events for us to consider. The third and final part is the denouement, and it manages to be both sad and hopeful. Which feels right, because life is often simultaneously sad and hopeful.

I won't share points of the plot because I don't want to spoil the experience of reading the book, but Thomas Christopher Greene has created a remarkably convincing unreliable narrator. Not since reading Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club have I been so surprised to discover the difference between the events as they are presented and the 'truth' of the novel's reality.

I believe fans of John Irving and Wally Lamb and Richard Russo would appreciate this book a great deal.

Lastly, I like to read author acknowledgments at the close. Mr. Greene's acknowledgments made me cry - even harder than the conclusion to his beautiful story.

The ones that love us never truly leave us.

[Barb · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is divided into three parts; Acrimony, Expectations and After. The headmaster narrates the first part and the other two are narrated in the third person describing events from a different perspective.

When I began reading the headmaster's story I was concerned by what he was doing and worried where the story was headed. By the end of his narrative I was shocked by the events that had unfolded. While reading 'Expectations' and then 'After' the reader gains insight about events described in part one and the story becomes a very different one.

I don't want to say too much or give anything away that you may not already know from the book jacket or promotional blurb. I do want to say that I was completely engrossed by this book and read it from start to finish in less than 24 hours. The author really nails relationships and emotions and expertly dissects grief (unfortunately this comes from experience).

I think this would make an excellent book club book, I highly recommend it.

Thank you to the Amazon Vine program and St. Martin's Press for making this copy available to me in exchange for an honest review.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 Well, this book was a really thought provoking and heartbreaking story. The story started with the headmaster, Arthur Winthrop, of a prestigious boarding school being picked up by the police after being discovered walking naked in a local park. The first half of the story is written from Arthur’s perspective and it seemed to be going in one direction. The second half of the book is written from Arthur’s wife’s perspective and the story takes a completely different and unexpected turn.

This book is about the effects of life and loss and the breakdown of a relationship. I really don’t want to give much away and I wish I was better at putting my thoughts down but all I can say is that I highly recommend this book. Now, I feel like I need to sit and think about this story for a while. This is another one that would make an excellent selection for a book club.

[Mardee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent! Worthy tale and so well told. I love Mr. Greene's writing and will look for his previous books now. This would make a great movie!

[Ladybug Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most reviews say that the book is about grief and loss. While that is true, it is more a story of our choices and justifications for those choices and how they lead to grief. Elizabeth's (the titular Headmaster's Wife) life is heartbreaking not because of the big thing that is revealed in the book but because of the bad choices she makes. Choices she makes for comfort and out of loneliness instead of belief in those decisions. So sad. Read the book for the examination of a life not lived to the full potential and not for any twists- twists that are telegraphed early to the observant reader.

[Martie Nees Record · Rating 3 out of 5]

When the headmaster of a private boarding school, is found wondering naked in Central Park, he is picked up for questioning. It is here that the story of his rise and strange undoing is brought to the reader though his own self narration to the police department. I loved the twist and trying to figure out the twist in the first half of the book. The rest was just an okay read. Because of the interesting journey the author brought me on in the first half. I gave the book three stars.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

[I would have given this 5 stars except it bordered on a novella. No matter how large the publisher's make the font, it's clear that this fantastic little read is no more than a 6 hour pleasure.] But what a pleasure it is!! Greene's offering is a fresh take on the unreliable narrator - just when you thought it couldn't happen. Every character rang true. The pace was perfect. Descriptions are lush. This is a confection worth full-price now. Don't wait.

[Caitlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Headmaster's Wife begins as what appears to be a rather conventional tale of a headmaster's mid-life crisis involving an affair with a student and the story of his troubled marriage. It was so conventional, in fact, that I wondered why I was continuing to read it, but the writing was so good that it kept me with the story. I am very glad it did because as the reader finishes part one, narrated by the headmaster, and ventures on into parts two and three, narrated by different characters, the novel and its story bloom in completely unconventional ways. With a nod towards Rashomon, Mr. Greene amply demonstrates the complexity of all story, the bits and pieces of information that come our way as a story is told through different eyes and voice.

Often books with multiple narrators fall down for me because the voices just aren't different enough - the characters all sound pretty much the same, their point of view isn't radically different, and I am left wondering why the author bothered. Mr. Greene's narration has none of these issues. His characters are deeply realized with their own voices, their own visions, their own sense of self. This mastery deepens the story as Mr. Greene slowly pieces it together leaving the reader with a sense of the larger whole created of its constituent pieces. Smart, moving, funny, deeply felt and told, The Headmaster's Wife is one of the best books I've read so far this year. You should read it, too.

[Bonnie Brody · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Headmaster's Wife by Thomas Christopher Greene is written in a beautiful style that makes the reading of this book compelling. Greene has a way with words that hooks the reader from the first pages. The plot, however, is not as well-considered as I would have liked and I was disappointed by the denouement. It seemed like a deus ex machina, and not at all realistic.

The book starts out with Arthur Winthrop, Headmaster of The Lancaster School in Vermont, a prestigious boarding school, found wandering naked in Central Park. What was he doing out there? The police are interested in his story and as it unravels it becomes obvious that parts of Arthur's mind are confused. He tells the story of a marriage that has soured over the years, with lost intimacy and increased distance between him and his wife Elizabeth. At the same time, Arthur becomes obsessively enamored of a new transfer student named Betsy Pappas. He is willing to risk all for a relationship with her. As the story of Betsy and Arthur unfurls, I found myself gripping the pages for more. However, something felt amiss to me and as the second half of the story fills in the pieces, I found out why.

Arthur and Elizabeth have a son named Ethan who Arthur had hoped would follow in his family's footsteps and become Headmaster of Lancaster School some day. However, upon graduation, and right after 9/11, Ethan joins the army and goes to Iraq. Arthur is furious and Elizabeth is torn up with fear. Ethan is a good person but is not the son that Arthur had hoped he'd be. Elizabeth has tried to protect him from the world but has to let him go.

I found the second half of the book as interesting as the first half. However, I also found it to be implausible towards the end. I don't want to give any spoilers so I will leave it at that. This is a good literary page-turner that leaves something to be desired - like a jigsaw puzzle with two or three missing pieces or pieces that don't fit in. I enjoyed the experience of reading it but hoped for something more.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I recently finished reading "The Headmaster's Wife" by Thomas Christopher Greene. I admit to being somewhat at a loss on how to review this book. This is a book told by multiple voices and it is incumbent on the reader to determine what is true and what is an altered perception of reality. The setting is the elite world of the private New England prep school - Lancaster, in Vermont. Arthur Winthrop is Lancaster's headmaster, a position that his father held before him. When the book opens, Arthur is found wandering naked in Central Park and after being picked up by the police, he tells them (and us) his story in flashback form; this comprises the first part of the book. He drinks too much, has a indifferent relationship with his wife Elizabeth, who he tells us is obsessed with tennis and possibly her tennis instructor. He is estranged from his only son who is serving in the army in Afghanistan. Arthur becomes obsessed with a student, Becky Pappas, and he begins an affair with her. This Arthur is unlikable and his actions are reprehensible. At this point I wondered how I would finish the book.

In the interest of not revealing any spoilers, I will just say that in the second part of the book, we hear from another point of view and learn that what Arthur views as true is not necessarily so...the cause of Arthur's mental deconstruction was not a surprise to me but the author did reveal the truth eventually, piece by piece.

One of the jacket reviews called "The Headmaster's Wife" is psychologically complex and wickedly fast-paced"; I would say it was somewhat predictable and that I had to push myself to keep reading it. Ultimately I found it to be a sad story about people with sad, not particularly interesting or remarkable lives. The point where a good discussion could be had would be the discussion about how a major life change causes psychological damage in different ways to different people.

I received a copy of this book from the Amazon Vine Program for my honest and unbiased review.

[Charlotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the first part of this book - Acrimony. It was quite brilliantly written and ends with a real a-ha moment. For me, the story could have ended there, as a short novella. Enough is hinted at that the reader can fill in the missing pieces and put the story together. The second part - Expectations - seems unnecessary and spells it all out too methodically. Like Greene didn't think the reader would be smart enough to put it together without an explanation. And I found the third section - After - completely disappointing. I would have rather imagined my own ending to the story. I didn't like how it was wrapped up - it cheapened the story for me, somehow.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The question above this box asks, "What did you think?" Hmmmm. This book rendered me unable to think. I can't figure out why. I don't have the skills to step back from the story and analyze it objectively, to understand how the author put the pieces together so skillfully. I don't know why it works so well, but it is a story like no other story I have ever read (and I've read a lot of stories).

I believe the reader is drawn in by the oddity of the opening scene, and pulled along through the story by the desire to understand what events led to the strange behaviour of this rather ordinary headmaster of a New England boarding school.

Quite early in the story, one begins to suspect that perhaps he is descending into madness. Or is it his wife who is suffering through an emotional breakdown? Why is he inappropriately fixated on a young female student? Why does he seek revenge on his romantic rival, the school's star basketball player? What is reality, and what is fantasy? All will be revealed.

[Kelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Received ARC courtesy of Goodreads.com giveaway

This book is a definite must read! I would put it down for a few minutes to do something else and be drawn right back to it!

There are so many layers to this novel--relationships between husbands and wives, mothers and sons, fathers and sons, employer and employee, boyfriend and girlfriend. Then there are the images of snow and rivers and coldness. Then comes madness/sanity, love/hate, life/death.

This is a novel that you will continue to think about long after you've finished; that is the greatest compliment I can give.

[Renita D'Silva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful and poignant

[Cathryn Conroy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This fast-to-read psychological thriller is the perfect book for a cool autumn evening. Light a fire and get comfortable because this novel by Thomas Christopher Greene is so riveting you won't be moving for a while.

This is an astonishing read, and about halfway through the book, the story will knock you between the eyes--and you'll never see it coming. It is an astounding and unexpected plot twist that left me in tears at the end.

Since this book is all about the plot, to tell you more than this is to give away spoilers: It is a story about Arthur and Elizabeth Winthrop. He is the headmaster at an elite Vermont boarding school. She is the headmaster's wife. The book opens as Arthur is walking naked in New York City's Central Park during a snowstorm. The police bring him in for questioning, and he explains everything. This a novel that fully celebrates the joy of love and embraces the tragedy of death and the harrowing effect both can have on the human psyche.

I first read this book in 2014. I am rereading it now because it's a selection for my book club. Knowing what happens made this second read even more powerful because I was looking for the clues.

And do note this: Even though the title makes it sound like ChickLit, it's not. Men will enjoy this as much as women.

There is only one word to describe "The Headmaster's Wife": Extraordinary.

[Petite Clementine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had the book unfolded as I expected it to, I would have rated this novel far differently today. As it is, I was pleasantly surprised.

This story is not wholly unique, novel, or special. Likewise, the prose is not exactly wondrous or lyrical. Nonetheless, Greene is clearly an expert storyteller. The tale develops slowly, yet it remains fascinating.

Readers explore the minds of several protagonists in this book. We see through their fractured lenses, all of them hurting, all of them shaped by time and pain. Greene writes about certain controversial topics and manages to address all of them neatly, almost artfully.

Ultimately, would definitely recommend. Was not at all what I was anticipating it to be (in a good way).

P.S. I won this book from Goodreads Giveaway, as an ARC.
P.P.S The format of the book wasn't bad, except the discussion questions at the end were kind of irritating. It seemed kind of like the entire story was curated for a high school audience to analyze or something.

[Catherine Linka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here's what happens when I really love a book and don't want it to end. I race through, and then, read backwards. i reread the last chapters in reverse order so I can savor what I was too impatient to slowly read the first time. And that's exactly what I did with The Headmaster's Wife.

I love how character's tell their stories, but things that happen to them can make them unreliable narrators. We tell our lives through our own personal lenses, but sometimes those lenses get distorted. We cannot bear the truth.

Loved the characters, the things they wanted and lost, and how they admit their failings.

Perfect for book clubs--and others who like to read books and then talk about them.