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Drayton and Mackenzie
For the first time since university, James and Roland's paths through life – one drawn in straight lines, the other squiggled and meandering – began to cross…
James Drayton has always found things too easy. By the time he leaves university, he's still searching for a challenge worthy of his ambitions, one that will fulfil the destiny he thinks awaits him.
Roland Mackenzie, on the other hand, is an impulsive risk-taker, a charismatic drifter with boundless enthusiasm but a knack for derailing his own attempts to get started in life.
When a chance encounter in a pub reunites these old acquaintances, it sets them on an unpredictable course through the upheavals of the 21st century, and triggers an unlikely alliance. Against the backdrop of the financial crash and its aftermath, they strive to create something that outlasts them, something that will matter.
Drayton and Mackenzie is a stunningly ambitious, immediately engaging and ultimately deeply moving novel both about trying to make your mark on the world, and about how a friendship might be the most important thing in life.
James Drayton has always found things too easy. By the time he leaves university, he's still searching for a challenge worthy of his ambitions, one that will fulfil the destiny he thinks awaits him.
Roland Mackenzie, on the other hand, is an impulsive risk-taker, a charismatic drifter with boundless enthusiasm but a knack for derailing his own attempts to get started in life.
When a chance encounter in a pub reunites these old acquaintances, it sets them on an unpredictable course through the upheavals of the 21st century, and triggers an unlikely alliance. Against the backdrop of the financial crash and its aftermath, they strive to create something that outlasts them, something that will matter.
Drayton and Mackenzie is a stunningly ambitious, immediately engaging and ultimately deeply moving novel both about trying to make your mark on the world, and about how a friendship might be the most important thing in life.
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About the author
Alexander Starritt
13 books39 followersAlexander Starritt is a Scottish-German novelist, journalist and entrepreneur. Starritt was educated at Somerville College, Oxford. He came to public attention in 2017 with the release of his novel The Beast.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews
July 28, 2025
Drayton and Mackenzie tells the story of Roland Mackenzie and James Drayton, students who meet at university whilst in the same rowing team but who drift apart shortly after. As the years roll by Roland and James begin to collide with increasing frequency until they begin to collaborate on a shared job at the same firm. It's the beginning of a lifelong friendship.
There was something about these two that drew me in. It does evolve very slowly and took me a little time to truly fall for this unlikely pair but I devoured the novel and by the end, feeling utterly wrung out, I could barely put it down.
Alexander Starritt has given us two disparate but wonderful characters. The basis of their story is akin to that of Zuckerberg and Savarin as they began Facebook, but in the renewable energy/engineering sphere.
You don't need to know anything about scientific breakthroughs or anything engineering based. I don't and it all made sense to me. There's several cameo appearances by politicians and tech giants which gives the narrative a feeling of reality. The characters of Drayton and Mackenzie are very different but they are both very likeable. By the end of the book I was heavily invested in their friendship.
An excellent novel. I loved it. If you like a buddy book with several twists and turns thrown in or you just enjoy a really well written novel about the state of the world in the past 20 years you'll love this.
Thankyou to Netgalley and Swift Press for the advance review copy. Most appreciated.
There was something about these two that drew me in. It does evolve very slowly and took me a little time to truly fall for this unlikely pair but I devoured the novel and by the end, feeling utterly wrung out, I could barely put it down.
Alexander Starritt has given us two disparate but wonderful characters. The basis of their story is akin to that of Zuckerberg and Savarin as they began Facebook, but in the renewable energy/engineering sphere.
You don't need to know anything about scientific breakthroughs or anything engineering based. I don't and it all made sense to me. There's several cameo appearances by politicians and tech giants which gives the narrative a feeling of reality. The characters of Drayton and Mackenzie are very different but they are both very likeable. By the end of the book I was heavily invested in their friendship.
An excellent novel. I loved it. If you like a buddy book with several twists and turns thrown in or you just enjoy a really well written novel about the state of the world in the past 20 years you'll love this.
Thankyou to Netgalley and Swift Press for the advance review copy. Most appreciated.
December 13, 2025
This book was certainly long and probably longer than it needed to be, but I thought it was a really well done evocation of male friendship, as well as as of the business climate of the last 20 years.
July 28, 2025
I'll be honest — I struggled with this book at times. For me, it isn’t fast-paced; it’s more of a slow burn. There’s a lot of character development and detailed discussion of the business world, including the financial crisis. It’s a subtle and restrained novel, and many readers will appreciate that. The friendship between the two main characters is central to the story, as is the search for authenticity in relationships, in work, and in the pursuit of meaning in life. I received an advanced review copy from NetGalley and this is my honest review.
October 5, 2025
First time in 15 years that a novel makes it to the FT best business book of the year longlist.
Unfortunately it is a cringey best-sellerish novel. If you haven’t had experience working at mckinsey or struggling through funding rounds with startup founders (both instances happen to fit my case), I would advise to skip it.
Unfortunately it is a cringey best-sellerish novel. If you haven’t had experience working at mckinsey or struggling through funding rounds with startup founders (both instances happen to fit my case), I would advise to skip it.
October 12, 2025
Superb prose, ambitious in scope, prescient and moving. What else do you want in a novel, and why didn’t it make the Booker list?
September 29, 2025
Such a sweet book. Follows two Oxford grads through McKinsey and a startup whilst navigating major global events such as the GFC and brexit. Was moved by the characters and their friendship/business partnership with each other.
January 4, 2026
Who this book is for:
(1) Every literary-minded finance bro, startup gal, and consultant out there. Fiction readers in positions of prestige, that means you. Bonus points if you are ex- one of these things, or if your ex does one of these things. But that's not all, can't possibly be all for a novel that touches on so many vocations and avocations at once. If you've ever felt stuck in a rat race, ever dared to dream big, ever wondered what really matters, ever lost your way when life was going your way: Drayton & Mackenzie is for you.
(1a) On finance: Starritt devotes two chapters to dramatically recounting the bailouts of Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers during the 2008 financial crisis. We eavesdrop on an emergency as Ben Bernanke meets with Hank Paulson, Jamie Dimon, and the other bank heads behind closed doors. The book digresses again in 2012 to follow Mario Draghi, head of the ECB, as he delivers a speech with the fate of the Eurozone on the line. Other shoutouts: James Drayton is obsessed with Brent crude. The novel’s primary love interest passively manages index funds for BlackRock.
(1b) On startups: I’ve far from mentioned the entire cast of real-life people who populate this tale. Safe to say Drayton & Mackenzie should share a shelf with Zero to One, in addition to Walter Isaacson’s stupendous biography of a South African-born entrepreneur. In less sexy news, Starritt does a beautiful job capturing the mindset and frustration of a founder who knows their vision will take decades to realize. He captures the spirit of starting lean, of moving fast and breaking things, of finding your niche.
(1c) On consulting: the protagonists start their careers at McKinsey. You’ll experience the grueling nights of data crunching in hotel rooms, and then the restructuring, the people stuff, that shreds their nerves and teaches them how to lead.
(2) Americans. Although 2026 marks the semiquincentennial of our seceding from Great Britain, I reckon we still quite fancy our neighbours across the pond. I was so keen to acquire this book after reading about it in the FT that I ran offside and ordered it from the UK. What a scoop!
(2a) Speaking of Britishness: Drayton & Mackenzie begins in the hallowed halls of Oxford in the early 2000s. James Drayton is the star student with a bottom-of-the-barrel social life, first in his year in PPE but without a true friend to his name. Roland Mackenzie studies physics and philosophy and can’t resist a sidequest: he’s already flown to Japan, met a gang boss, and slept with a Kiwi before the end of chapter one. Yet he fails his final exam with a 2:2, a specter that hangs over him for the rest of his life.
(2b) Weather as character: James and Roland touch the wings of glory and depths of despair in cold, harsh places. Look toward Aberdeen, the oil capital on the eastern coast of Scotland, look toward Stromness and Kirkwall in the Orkney islands (inhabitants: Orcadians) at the far northern tip of the United Kingdom. I was chuffed to read a British novel that isn’t just about England.
(3) Guys with close guy friends. I don’t mean friends who arose out of convenience, nor do I mean the friend group that spawned a fantasy football league and a history of shenanigans. I mean thoughtful relationships built through years of shared experiences and mutual support. Watching James and Roland go from classmates to coworkers to cofounders to, ultimately, the most important people in each other’s lives might make you reconsider the life-changing potential of your male friendships.
(4) Fans of ambition, and of excess. No one is ever going to write a 500-page novel that avoids criticism of it being too long. Likewise, no one is ever going to write a great novel without being ambitious. Drayton and Mackenzie hurtles across decades, past and future; it’s a bildungsroman overflowing with Bildung. Starritt’s fully omniscient narration may be jarring at first, but haven’t you always wanted to hear what characters really thought of each other? By the time you turn that last page, you’ll have grown fond of James and Roland’s crew: Cleo, Alice, Alan, Mary-Rose, Eleni, their parents even. Poetic that the world is their oyster and yet their world—the loved ones they keep close—fits in an oyster.
If you suspect I've been describing myself (rather than the ideal reader) this whole time, you're right—and you've completely missed the point. In countless ways, Drayton and Mackenzie was written for someone like me to discover: I’ve never wished to write and live a book as much as I wish I'd written and lived this one. Such product-market fit doesn't come around often. My review may soon be over, but these Oxford lads will forever have a place in my heart, whether or not their story gets the international recognition (and film adaptation, methinks) it so thoroughly deserves. I hope I've at least convinced you to invest.
(1) Every literary-minded finance bro, startup gal, and consultant out there. Fiction readers in positions of prestige, that means you. Bonus points if you are ex- one of these things, or if your ex does one of these things. But that's not all, can't possibly be all for a novel that touches on so many vocations and avocations at once. If you've ever felt stuck in a rat race, ever dared to dream big, ever wondered what really matters, ever lost your way when life was going your way: Drayton & Mackenzie is for you.
(1a) On finance: Starritt devotes two chapters to dramatically recounting the bailouts of Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers during the 2008 financial crisis. We eavesdrop on an emergency as Ben Bernanke meets with Hank Paulson, Jamie Dimon, and the other bank heads behind closed doors. The book digresses again in 2012 to follow Mario Draghi, head of the ECB, as he delivers a speech with the fate of the Eurozone on the line. Other shoutouts: James Drayton is obsessed with Brent crude. The novel’s primary love interest passively manages index funds for BlackRock.
(1b) On startups: I’ve far from mentioned the entire cast of real-life people who populate this tale. Safe to say Drayton & Mackenzie should share a shelf with Zero to One, in addition to Walter Isaacson’s stupendous biography of a South African-born entrepreneur. In less sexy news, Starritt does a beautiful job capturing the mindset and frustration of a founder who knows their vision will take decades to realize. He captures the spirit of starting lean, of moving fast and breaking things, of finding your niche.
(1c) On consulting: the protagonists start their careers at McKinsey. You’ll experience the grueling nights of data crunching in hotel rooms, and then the restructuring, the people stuff, that shreds their nerves and teaches them how to lead.
(2) Americans. Although 2026 marks the semiquincentennial of our seceding from Great Britain, I reckon we still quite fancy our neighbours across the pond. I was so keen to acquire this book after reading about it in the FT that I ran offside and ordered it from the UK. What a scoop!
(2a) Speaking of Britishness: Drayton & Mackenzie begins in the hallowed halls of Oxford in the early 2000s. James Drayton is the star student with a bottom-of-the-barrel social life, first in his year in PPE but without a true friend to his name. Roland Mackenzie studies physics and philosophy and can’t resist a sidequest: he’s already flown to Japan, met a gang boss, and slept with a Kiwi before the end of chapter one. Yet he fails his final exam with a 2:2, a specter that hangs over him for the rest of his life.
(2b) Weather as character: James and Roland touch the wings of glory and depths of despair in cold, harsh places. Look toward Aberdeen, the oil capital on the eastern coast of Scotland, look toward Stromness and Kirkwall in the Orkney islands (inhabitants: Orcadians) at the far northern tip of the United Kingdom. I was chuffed to read a British novel that isn’t just about England.
(3) Guys with close guy friends. I don’t mean friends who arose out of convenience, nor do I mean the friend group that spawned a fantasy football league and a history of shenanigans. I mean thoughtful relationships built through years of shared experiences and mutual support. Watching James and Roland go from classmates to coworkers to cofounders to, ultimately, the most important people in each other’s lives might make you reconsider the life-changing potential of your male friendships.
(4) Fans of ambition, and of excess. No one is ever going to write a 500-page novel that avoids criticism of it being too long. Likewise, no one is ever going to write a great novel without being ambitious. Drayton and Mackenzie hurtles across decades, past and future; it’s a bildungsroman overflowing with Bildung. Starritt’s fully omniscient narration may be jarring at first, but haven’t you always wanted to hear what characters really thought of each other? By the time you turn that last page, you’ll have grown fond of James and Roland’s crew: Cleo, Alice, Alan, Mary-Rose, Eleni, their parents even. Poetic that the world is their oyster and yet their world—the loved ones they keep close—fits in an oyster.
If you suspect I've been describing myself (rather than the ideal reader) this whole time, you're right—and you've completely missed the point. In countless ways, Drayton and Mackenzie was written for someone like me to discover: I’ve never wished to write and live a book as much as I wish I'd written and lived this one. Such product-market fit doesn't come around often. My review may soon be over, but these Oxford lads will forever have a place in my heart, whether or not their story gets the international recognition (and film adaptation, methinks) it so thoroughly deserves. I hope I've at least convinced you to invest.
October 21, 2025
I came by this book in an unusual way for me—one of my good buddies and reading pals asked if I’d read it because it was on a Financial Times reading recommendation list, and it struck him because it was a work of fiction. Not exactly typical. It intrigued me enough to try and get a copy, and while it took two sessions / borrowings to get through it, I found it pretty fascinating.
The story follows two men who, after casual acquaintanceship at Oxford, end up business partners in renewable energy against the backdrop of the 2008 financial recession and into the COVID pandemic. One is a relentless striver, socially inept enough to need a handler; the other a feckless dreamer who barely scrapes through university but with charm and people skills to spare. This unlikely duo end up forced together at first in the professional sphere but develop a partnership, and later a true, lasting friendship, that transcends the humor of their Odd Couple energy.
There is a lot of engineering and finance talk, which is presented in a very accessible way, and having real life events that parallel my own adult experiences brought this to life in many ways. This is almost non-fiction fiction, in some aspects; this reads beautifully but almost like a journal that someone has rendered into narrative prose. It is spare but evocative and feels authentic.
As is not surprising to people who know me, the emotional payoff is what I’m looking for in a book. The Roland and James relationship is one of my recent favorites in fiction. They are endearing and frustrating by turns, just like real people. I was truly moved and devastated by the ending (reader beware).
My reason for not giving this five stars is largely that the plot is actually quite boring. It’s the characters that make this shine as much as it does. Maybe others who appreciate the venture capital cycle more than I do will find their exploits inherently interesting, but the bulk of the narrative is James stressing about finding funding for his tidal energy project and Roland cleaning up his social messes as he bulls his way through the proverbial China shop. Given a little more depth of plot, this could be a truly great book in my estimation.
The story follows two men who, after casual acquaintanceship at Oxford, end up business partners in renewable energy against the backdrop of the 2008 financial recession and into the COVID pandemic. One is a relentless striver, socially inept enough to need a handler; the other a feckless dreamer who barely scrapes through university but with charm and people skills to spare. This unlikely duo end up forced together at first in the professional sphere but develop a partnership, and later a true, lasting friendship, that transcends the humor of their Odd Couple energy.
There is a lot of engineering and finance talk, which is presented in a very accessible way, and having real life events that parallel my own adult experiences brought this to life in many ways. This is almost non-fiction fiction, in some aspects; this reads beautifully but almost like a journal that someone has rendered into narrative prose. It is spare but evocative and feels authentic.
As is not surprising to people who know me, the emotional payoff is what I’m looking for in a book. The Roland and James relationship is one of my recent favorites in fiction. They are endearing and frustrating by turns, just like real people. I was truly moved and devastated by the ending (reader beware).
My reason for not giving this five stars is largely that the plot is actually quite boring. It’s the characters that make this shine as much as it does. Maybe others who appreciate the venture capital cycle more than I do will find their exploits inherently interesting, but the bulk of the narrative is James stressing about finding funding for his tidal energy project and Roland cleaning up his social messes as he bulls his way through the proverbial China shop. Given a little more depth of plot, this could be a truly great book in my estimation.
June 30, 2025
There was a point when I wondered where this tale of an unusual friendship between two unlikely characters was going. I found the opening chapters rather slow and lacking in direction. About a third of the way in, I was fully engaged and thoroughly committed to sharing this friendship, the families, friends and colleagues. The dialogue is vital and inviting, filled with banter and deeper observations as the friends meet challenges to their business partnership. I so enjoyed the insight into the banking crisis, how venture capital works (the old boys' network?)– and how the taps are turned on and off! – and the creation of a legacy industry interwoven with this multilayered story of the gift of genuine friendship.
December 9, 2025
this should not have won prizes, I was baited by reviewers at the FT
January 5, 2026
A few tears were shed at the end. What more can the reader want!! A beautiful account of a friendship and about life’s tribulations and the power of chance and fate. Loved it
December 31, 2025
This is a great novel. The characters are inspiring and complex. The prose remains gripping throughout the long book: clear-eyed, emotional, and at times funny. The setting is relatable: the universe the characters inhabit, world events, and their questions about meaning. One of the best books I read in 2025.
December 9, 2025
Wonderful book, talks about the friendship and relationship between James and Rolland. Chances bring them together and change their lives. The character development of both the characters is seen throughout the book. This book capitalizes on invention and friendship
October 12, 2025
I was going to give this 5* until I reminded myself of the things I didn’t like about it - and they were some pretty big things! I still kinda loved it though.
The eponymous (James) Drayton and (Roland) Mackenzie first meet at Oxbridge, then again as junior grunts at McKinsey and later found a startup together. James initially comes across as a careerist robot, probably somewhere on the autism spectrum, sacrificing everything at the altar of success. Roland is his complete opposite, one of these people who just kinda coast through life with no plan and completely at the mercy of their personal charisma. Somewhere along the way they become each other’s best and probably only friends, even though Roland lets himself be dragged along in the wake of James’s ambition and later thanks him by
I started my career at a place very similar to McKinsey - different industry, same vibe - so I would’ve loved it anyway simply because it’s pretty rare to find fiction set in this sort of scene. It’s kinda hard to write about: yes, those are the “masters of the universe”, but the day-to-day job is just emails, spreadsheets and presentations like any other white collar job.
The book manages to not get bogged down in the details of the drudgery, not when they’re at McKinsey and not when they’re navigating the startup world either.
It’s so well written, the characters felt so real - I almost felt like they were people I’d known from after work drinks. When I got annoyed with them, it wasn’t because of bad writing but because I wanted to grab them and shake some sense into them as if they were real people who keep making dodgy choices.
I do have to mention the drawbacks though.
1. It’s much too long - novels like this should never be longer than 350ish pages and it ended up feeling too self-indulgent.
2. I didn’t buy the ending.
3. The random chapters from the POV of real people and just in general the appearance of famous businesspeople and so on (Elon Musk??) - cringe. So cringe. None of that should’ve been included. We get it Starritt, you’ve seen/ read Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System from Crisis — and Themselves, there was no need to pretend you came up with that yourself. Same with copying the Lehman Bros scene from The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine 1:1. How did this get past the editors? It made the book seem like Too Big to Fail/ Big Short/ general business nerd fan fiction, very weird. And completely unnecessary, because we didn’t need all those asides for the great friendship story we already had!
So yeah, there goes the fifth star. Still one of the better books I’ve read this year. Great writing talent. Cut down on the compulsive shoehorning in of real people and it would’ve landed in my best of 2025 list. Alas…
The eponymous (James) Drayton and (Roland) Mackenzie first meet at Oxbridge, then again as junior grunts at McKinsey and later found a startup together. James initially comes across as a careerist robot, probably somewhere on the autism spectrum, sacrificing everything at the altar of success. Roland is his complete opposite, one of these people who just kinda coast through life with no plan and completely at the mercy of their personal charisma. Somewhere along the way they become each other’s best and probably only friends, even though Roland lets himself be dragged along in the wake of James’s ambition and later thanks him by
I started my career at a place very similar to McKinsey - different industry, same vibe - so I would’ve loved it anyway simply because it’s pretty rare to find fiction set in this sort of scene. It’s kinda hard to write about: yes, those are the “masters of the universe”, but the day-to-day job is just emails, spreadsheets and presentations like any other white collar job.
The book manages to not get bogged down in the details of the drudgery, not when they’re at McKinsey and not when they’re navigating the startup world either.
It’s so well written, the characters felt so real - I almost felt like they were people I’d known from after work drinks. When I got annoyed with them, it wasn’t because of bad writing but because I wanted to grab them and shake some sense into them as if they were real people who keep making dodgy choices.
I do have to mention the drawbacks though.
1. It’s much too long - novels like this should never be longer than 350ish pages and it ended up feeling too self-indulgent.
2. I didn’t buy the ending.
3. The random chapters from the POV of real people and just in general the appearance of famous businesspeople and so on (Elon Musk??) - cringe. So cringe. None of that should’ve been included. We get it Starritt, you’ve seen/ read Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System from Crisis — and Themselves, there was no need to pretend you came up with that yourself. Same with copying the Lehman Bros scene from The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine 1:1. How did this get past the editors? It made the book seem like Too Big to Fail/ Big Short/ general business nerd fan fiction, very weird. And completely unnecessary, because we didn’t need all those asides for the great friendship story we already had!
So yeah, there goes the fifth star. Still one of the better books I’ve read this year. Great writing talent. Cut down on the compulsive shoehorning in of real people and it would’ve landed in my best of 2025 list. Alas…
August 23, 2025
I liked the two main characters. The book was kind of strange - it was a straightforward friendship story but centered around a business. It was a good idea but the business itself was kind of boring. And it was long. I think 600 pages should have either super compelling characters (like skippy dies) or a more epic backdrop (like war and peace). But it was interesting overall and often humorous. And actually pretty accurate on the business side. Three and half stars haha!
July 9, 2025
Agree with other reviews, it’s a charming book and/but disconcertingly hard to define - huge long chunks of well-written explanations about real life events, sudden diversions away from the two main characters to give us an insight into someone we have barely met before or will again. But at the heart of it, I guess it’s a love story, and a lovely one at that.
January 7, 2026
Drayton tops his PPE course at Oxford. Mackenzie dips out and comes last in his year. Drayton has analytical brilliance, strategy and drive. Mackenzie does not naturally have any of these things but he understands people. Both are semi-outsiders. Drayton is awkward and aloof. Mackenzie (whose father was an engineer in the oil industry) grew up outside the UK and is impetuous and adaptable - so much so that he rarely seems to plan ahead properly, presumably knowing at some subconscious level that he can wing it.
Drayton accepts a graduate job with management consulting firm McKinseys and a couple of years later the same firm employ Mackenzie, who has been teaching in India. They didn’t know each other well at Oxford but are thrown together in McKinseys.
Neither is particularly happy there, Drayton because he isn’t being challenged, Mackenzie because he’s allergic to corporate conformity. Then the GFC happens and the oil price plummets. They’re sent to Aberdeen to do the dirty work of sacking North Sea oil workers, aka providing advice on corporate downsizing and restructuring. They like this even less than the work they were doing in London.
But Drayton spies a business opportunity, a piece of R&D in the form of a model tide-driven turbine that the oil company doesn’t seem terribly interested in. They manage to acquire the model, the IP, the engineer who designed it. They form their own company, Drayton & Mackenzie, and set off to re-power the UK’s grid by harnessing the power the moon.
The title of the novel is that of the company but it also refers to the two individuals and the novel is as much about the relationship between these two very different but essential people as it is about the company.
I liked the story wove in the events that have shaped us and our working lives, certainly mine, in the 21st century - the GFC and COVID 19. Elon Musk and Peter Thiel have important cameos as they should given the immense impact they have had (although Thiel is regarded warily when his Trumpian political views become apparent in 2016). I also liked the way the novel explored the exchange of ideas and technology and flow of finance between the UK and Europe and in some ways this book feels like a European rather than the parochially English story you might expect when it involves two Oxford PPE grads (this might have something to do with the author’s Scottish and German heritage). Another thing I liked was the way the author developed the characters’ management skills, especially the ability to take a deep breath and handle difficult people.
The step-by-step description of the process of building and growing the company is interesting, especially the struggle to get finance, although I felt I wanted to know more. For example, Drayton seemed relatively unconstrained in the way he ran the company in the middle of the book, well after venture capitalists and others had put in money. Would this really be case? Wouldn’t the financiers have board membership and more of a leash on the charismatic CEO at this point? Nor was there as much about the economics and regulation of the business. The author may have made a decision not to get bogged down in too much detail on these sorts of things but a framed business plan of some kind might have been nice.
Drayton and Mackenzie are certainly brave but at times I feared that they were like mountaineers climbing Everest in T-shirts … until they pull snow suits out of their backpacks.
These are quibbles though. I really enjoyed this. Favourite book of 2025.
Drayton accepts a graduate job with management consulting firm McKinseys and a couple of years later the same firm employ Mackenzie, who has been teaching in India. They didn’t know each other well at Oxford but are thrown together in McKinseys.
Neither is particularly happy there, Drayton because he isn’t being challenged, Mackenzie because he’s allergic to corporate conformity. Then the GFC happens and the oil price plummets. They’re sent to Aberdeen to do the dirty work of sacking North Sea oil workers, aka providing advice on corporate downsizing and restructuring. They like this even less than the work they were doing in London.
But Drayton spies a business opportunity, a piece of R&D in the form of a model tide-driven turbine that the oil company doesn’t seem terribly interested in. They manage to acquire the model, the IP, the engineer who designed it. They form their own company, Drayton & Mackenzie, and set off to re-power the UK’s grid by harnessing the power the moon.
The title of the novel is that of the company but it also refers to the two individuals and the novel is as much about the relationship between these two very different but essential people as it is about the company.
I liked the story wove in the events that have shaped us and our working lives, certainly mine, in the 21st century - the GFC and COVID 19. Elon Musk and Peter Thiel have important cameos as they should given the immense impact they have had (although Thiel is regarded warily when his Trumpian political views become apparent in 2016). I also liked the way the novel explored the exchange of ideas and technology and flow of finance between the UK and Europe and in some ways this book feels like a European rather than the parochially English story you might expect when it involves two Oxford PPE grads (this might have something to do with the author’s Scottish and German heritage). Another thing I liked was the way the author developed the characters’ management skills, especially the ability to take a deep breath and handle difficult people.
The step-by-step description of the process of building and growing the company is interesting, especially the struggle to get finance, although I felt I wanted to know more. For example, Drayton seemed relatively unconstrained in the way he ran the company in the middle of the book, well after venture capitalists and others had put in money. Would this really be case? Wouldn’t the financiers have board membership and more of a leash on the charismatic CEO at this point? Nor was there as much about the economics and regulation of the business. The author may have made a decision not to get bogged down in too much detail on these sorts of things but a framed business plan of some kind might have been nice.
Drayton and Mackenzie are certainly brave but at times I feared that they were like mountaineers climbing Everest in T-shirts … until they pull snow suits out of their backpacks.
These are quibbles though. I really enjoyed this. Favourite book of 2025.
July 27, 2025
There can be very few readers who can connect with this book in as visceral way as I can. Indeed I may be unique in having both unexpectedly woken up in the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead (not as the book says Belsize Park) and being familiar with the Orcadian island of Eday where much of the action takes place. I have a business on Eday co-located with the tidal and hydrogen generation which is central to the plot.
Perhaps that is why I enjoyed the book so much. At its heart it’s a buddy story. The Drayton and Mackenzie of the title are James Drayton and Roland Mackenzie, the story of the relationship between the two of them, working and loving together. Set through the banking crash and covid crisis it looks at how both their personality flaws and external factors influence their friendship.
While my familiarity with the technical side of their work led me to pick holes, I think I most enjoyed the story because I liked the characters. An engagement that led me to laugh out loud and stifle tears in the rise and fall of the plot.
Something that annoys me is when a novel mentions a make of car but doesn't say what model it is. Part of the plot revolves around a Lamborghini. Given the time period of the book, it might be a Murciélago LP640, but as the car is purple I'd like to think it was a Diablo SE30. Although to be fair you would be unlikely to be able to rent an SE30
Either way saying that the name of the car was derived from a Spanish fighting bull would suit the narrative.
It’s nicely written, good rhetorical devices and well enough paced, at least once they get going. The story captures how wild the waters in Orkney are, but doesn’t capture how windy the place is. It’s an archipelago with out trees. Particularly Eday is very rugged. There is also a sense of isolation, with among the lowest population densities in Europe. I wonder if author Alexander Starritt visited the mainland of Orkney but not Eday, which would be a bit like saying you’d been to Dublin so you knew what Ireland was like. I rather think that if he’d been to Eday there would have been a mention of puffins, orcas and the Northern lights.
The epilogue is a bit far-fetched.
But then the book isn’t written for me, for the one person who is familiar with a particular 800 bed hospital and an island with a population of 150 which is 600 miles away. It’s a book to be read on a beach far away from either place and in that it succeeds.
Perhaps that is why I enjoyed the book so much. At its heart it’s a buddy story. The Drayton and Mackenzie of the title are James Drayton and Roland Mackenzie, the story of the relationship between the two of them, working and loving together. Set through the banking crash and covid crisis it looks at how both their personality flaws and external factors influence their friendship.
While my familiarity with the technical side of their work led me to pick holes, I think I most enjoyed the story because I liked the characters. An engagement that led me to laugh out loud and stifle tears in the rise and fall of the plot.
Something that annoys me is when a novel mentions a make of car but doesn't say what model it is. Part of the plot revolves around a Lamborghini. Given the time period of the book, it might be a Murciélago LP640, but as the car is purple I'd like to think it was a Diablo SE30. Although to be fair you would be unlikely to be able to rent an SE30
Either way saying that the name of the car was derived from a Spanish fighting bull would suit the narrative.
It’s nicely written, good rhetorical devices and well enough paced, at least once they get going. The story captures how wild the waters in Orkney are, but doesn’t capture how windy the place is. It’s an archipelago with out trees. Particularly Eday is very rugged. There is also a sense of isolation, with among the lowest population densities in Europe. I wonder if author Alexander Starritt visited the mainland of Orkney but not Eday, which would be a bit like saying you’d been to Dublin so you knew what Ireland was like. I rather think that if he’d been to Eday there would have been a mention of puffins, orcas and the Northern lights.
The epilogue is a bit far-fetched.
But then the book isn’t written for me, for the one person who is familiar with a particular 800 bed hospital and an island with a population of 150 which is 600 miles away. It’s a book to be read on a beach far away from either place and in that it succeeds.
October 5, 2025
Drayton and Mackenzie (2025) by Alexander Starritt got a rave review in the latest issue of (the wonderful) Strong Words magazine so I decided to give it a go.
I was engrossed from the first page. I loved its ambition, contemporary scope, and, the exploration of male friendship. On one level it's a beautiful love story about two mismatched men, James Drayton and Roland Mackenzie, from their time at Oxford University in the early 2000s through to the 2020s.
One man is a high achieving genius and the other an impulsive, self sobotaging people person. A chance encounter reunites them after university, leading to an unlikely business partnership in the innovative and adventurous world of tidal energy and hydrogen fuel for rockets.
Other than that the less you know the better.
It's fab
4/5
The blurb....
For the first time since university, James and Roland's paths through life – one drawn in straight lines, the other squiggled and meandering – began to cross…
James Drayton has always found things too easy. By the time he leaves university, he's still searching for a challenge worthy of his ambitions, one that will fulfil the destiny he thinks awaits him.
Roland Mackenzie, on the other hand, is an impulsive risk-taker, a charismatic drifter with boundless enthusiasm but a knack for derailing his own attempts to get started in life.
When a chance encounter in a pub reunites these old acquaintances, it sets them on an unpredictable course through the upheavals of the 21st century, and triggers an unlikely alliance. Against the backdrop of the financial crash and its aftermath, they strive to create something that outlasts them, something that will matter.
Drayton and Mackenzie is a stunningly ambitious, immediately engaging and ultimately deeply moving novel both about trying to make your mark on the world, and about how a friendship might be the most important thing in life.
I was engrossed from the first page. I loved its ambition, contemporary scope, and, the exploration of male friendship. On one level it's a beautiful love story about two mismatched men, James Drayton and Roland Mackenzie, from their time at Oxford University in the early 2000s through to the 2020s.
One man is a high achieving genius and the other an impulsive, self sobotaging people person. A chance encounter reunites them after university, leading to an unlikely business partnership in the innovative and adventurous world of tidal energy and hydrogen fuel for rockets.
Other than that the less you know the better.
It's fab
4/5
The blurb....
For the first time since university, James and Roland's paths through life – one drawn in straight lines, the other squiggled and meandering – began to cross…
James Drayton has always found things too easy. By the time he leaves university, he's still searching for a challenge worthy of his ambitions, one that will fulfil the destiny he thinks awaits him.
Roland Mackenzie, on the other hand, is an impulsive risk-taker, a charismatic drifter with boundless enthusiasm but a knack for derailing his own attempts to get started in life.
When a chance encounter in a pub reunites these old acquaintances, it sets them on an unpredictable course through the upheavals of the 21st century, and triggers an unlikely alliance. Against the backdrop of the financial crash and its aftermath, they strive to create something that outlasts them, something that will matter.
Drayton and Mackenzie is a stunningly ambitious, immediately engaging and ultimately deeply moving novel both about trying to make your mark on the world, and about how a friendship might be the most important thing in life.
December 24, 2025
I felt this was a multi genre book that covered a lot but a great story. A coming of age story of 2 friends James Drayton and Roland McKenzie.
The 2 meet at uni but aren’t really friends. James is studious, borderline obsessive over being the best in business. Secures a job at McKinsey after uni. Roland a bit more free spirited wants to teach English in Japan but pure laziness when he doesn’t enter his application in time means he ends up in India. On a return to England he bumps into James and tell him about the educational standards in India. James comes up with a business plan to raise the standards, McKinsey take on the project and he hires Roland to work in his team. They butt heads as they have 2 different working styles. When the India project is closed at the time of the financial crisis in 2008, they are sent into oil companies to restructure them. Through this networking, James comes up with a new business to create hydrogen through tidal energy. They both leave McKinsey to set up the new company. We then follow them as they grow the business and navigate the economic market. They get investment from Peter Thiel and praise from Elon Musk.
James meets Alice, his first girlfriend but they don’t work out. She gets with Roland instead. James is ok with this, he’s more business minded anyway. He even is best man at their wedding. James also finds out he has type 1 diabetes so learns to slow down after being in a diabetic coma. The business becomes more successful.
Then Covid hits and James dies of Covid due to his diabetes. But before he became ill he had told Roland he wanted to change the business to selling electrolysers as this would make more money. He also wanted to leave the business as it was no longer challenging him. They’re both already incredibly rich.
Roland runs the company after he dies but in grief starts off badly and doesn’t properly explain the reason for the business switch to electrolyers which alienates some of the long standing members of the team.
The epilogue is 20 years in the future, his daughter Kate inherited all of James’s worth as his goddaughter and they are launching space rockets from Scotland. Roland is the FTSE 100 most successful and long standing CEO.
It’s a business book - the real life economic crises, climate change and clean energy businesses. There’s a love story and the chapter when James dies is heart breaking. It’s ultimately a story of male friendship that was beautifully told
The 2 meet at uni but aren’t really friends. James is studious, borderline obsessive over being the best in business. Secures a job at McKinsey after uni. Roland a bit more free spirited wants to teach English in Japan but pure laziness when he doesn’t enter his application in time means he ends up in India. On a return to England he bumps into James and tell him about the educational standards in India. James comes up with a business plan to raise the standards, McKinsey take on the project and he hires Roland to work in his team. They butt heads as they have 2 different working styles. When the India project is closed at the time of the financial crisis in 2008, they are sent into oil companies to restructure them. Through this networking, James comes up with a new business to create hydrogen through tidal energy. They both leave McKinsey to set up the new company. We then follow them as they grow the business and navigate the economic market. They get investment from Peter Thiel and praise from Elon Musk.
James meets Alice, his first girlfriend but they don’t work out. She gets with Roland instead. James is ok with this, he’s more business minded anyway. He even is best man at their wedding. James also finds out he has type 1 diabetes so learns to slow down after being in a diabetic coma. The business becomes more successful.
Then Covid hits and James dies of Covid due to his diabetes. But before he became ill he had told Roland he wanted to change the business to selling electrolysers as this would make more money. He also wanted to leave the business as it was no longer challenging him. They’re both already incredibly rich.
Roland runs the company after he dies but in grief starts off badly and doesn’t properly explain the reason for the business switch to electrolyers which alienates some of the long standing members of the team.
The epilogue is 20 years in the future, his daughter Kate inherited all of James’s worth as his goddaughter and they are launching space rockets from Scotland. Roland is the FTSE 100 most successful and long standing CEO.
It’s a business book - the real life economic crises, climate change and clean energy businesses. There’s a love story and the chapter when James dies is heart breaking. It’s ultimately a story of male friendship that was beautifully told
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 31, 2025
A wonderful sneaking novel on friendship and obsession
—
In this wonderful novel that sneaks up on you, we follow two young men from the moment they reconnect after university to the eventual outcome of their obsessions and collaboration. James Drayton and Roland Mackenzie couldn’t be more different: James is a genius, looking for a problem to apply his mind; Roland is a maverick, unable to focus on anything that lasts except for developing friendships. When they finally meet as equals, their joint plans to make the world a better place are beset with pitfalls and challenges, but through it all, their unusual friendship makes it all possible. When tragedy strikes, everything they are to each other and all that they have done will be tested to breaking point, and success, once assured, will be on a knife’s edge.
This is what a great novel by a young white male writer can be about, the specifics of being all those things, the good and the bad, the stupid as well as the wise. Set against the fluctuating world from the financial crisis of the late Aughts to Brexit, and on to the Covid era, this is a big, happy novel that doesn’t shy away from big ideas, of great men (and women) in history (with cameos from global names from the various periods), of climate change and renewable power, of Silicon Valley and its anointed kings. But at heart, what this novel is about is the titular friendship, how two disparate characters find in the other the support and joy they need to build the best possible world that they can dream of.
—
In this wonderful novel that sneaks up on you, we follow two young men from the moment they reconnect after university to the eventual outcome of their obsessions and collaboration. James Drayton and Roland Mackenzie couldn’t be more different: James is a genius, looking for a problem to apply his mind; Roland is a maverick, unable to focus on anything that lasts except for developing friendships. When they finally meet as equals, their joint plans to make the world a better place are beset with pitfalls and challenges, but through it all, their unusual friendship makes it all possible. When tragedy strikes, everything they are to each other and all that they have done will be tested to breaking point, and success, once assured, will be on a knife’s edge.
This is what a great novel by a young white male writer can be about, the specifics of being all those things, the good and the bad, the stupid as well as the wise. Set against the fluctuating world from the financial crisis of the late Aughts to Brexit, and on to the Covid era, this is a big, happy novel that doesn’t shy away from big ideas, of great men (and women) in history (with cameos from global names from the various periods), of climate change and renewable power, of Silicon Valley and its anointed kings. But at heart, what this novel is about is the titular friendship, how two disparate characters find in the other the support and joy they need to build the best possible world that they can dream of.
November 5, 2025
Drayton and Mackenzie by Alex Starritt is a terrific read, incorporating big business, political journalism, scientific inventions and personal development. But at the heart of the book is the story
of two young men - students at Oxford uni - James Drayton and Roland Mackenzie. James, a brilliant scholar without people skills, contrasts with Roland, who is a bit of a wastrel - flunking his exams but is a charmer and good communicator.
The pair, post uni, accidentally get to work at the same management consultant company with James being Roland's team manager. James eventually starts a business and reluctantly drags Roland in with him as a partner, although James is the brains of the outfit. Over the years, taking in the financial crisis of 2008 and the 2020 covid pandemic, the company grows into a big beast of industry, with the two chalk and cheese partners, becoming close friends despite their different personalities. Dramatic events happen that deeply affect the two and their ongoing relationship.
The latter part of the book changes tack in some ways, which i found slightly disconcerting, becoming a different sort of book. All in all, the book is almost too ambitious, taking in too many
subject, nevertheless, I couldn't put the long book down and I loved it!
of two young men - students at Oxford uni - James Drayton and Roland Mackenzie. James, a brilliant scholar without people skills, contrasts with Roland, who is a bit of a wastrel - flunking his exams but is a charmer and good communicator.
The pair, post uni, accidentally get to work at the same management consultant company with James being Roland's team manager. James eventually starts a business and reluctantly drags Roland in with him as a partner, although James is the brains of the outfit. Over the years, taking in the financial crisis of 2008 and the 2020 covid pandemic, the company grows into a big beast of industry, with the two chalk and cheese partners, becoming close friends despite their different personalities. Dramatic events happen that deeply affect the two and their ongoing relationship.
The latter part of the book changes tack in some ways, which i found slightly disconcerting, becoming a different sort of book. All in all, the book is almost too ambitious, taking in too many
subject, nevertheless, I couldn't put the long book down and I loved it!
October 16, 2025
At its great big heart, Drayton and Mackenzie by Alexander Starritt is about a friendship equal parts extraordinary and ordinary. It’s additionally a really fine example of literary fiction; a story centered on characters who carry the story rather than the story leading them. I certainly don’t believe I’d become as cued, nonetheless invested, in the state of the clean energy industry in the early 2000’s if Starritt didn’t convince me to invest in James and Roland’s story. Lastly, it says something Drayton and Mackenzie is the singular piece of fiction on The Financial Times Best Books of 2025 list. A piece of “mere fiction” amongst works on real-life entrepreneurs, the current state of the world economy, and predictions of the future.
James Drayton and Roland Mackenzie were such fully created characters, who made me laugh at, cheer on, and hope for them from their seemingly inconsequential first meeting at Oxford to when they were making ‘big boy’ deals as business partners. I savored all the moments, and I know I will someday wish I could return to the time before I first read Drayton and Mackenzie so I can experience it for the first time again.
James Drayton and Roland Mackenzie were such fully created characters, who made me laugh at, cheer on, and hope for them from their seemingly inconsequential first meeting at Oxford to when they were making ‘big boy’ deals as business partners. I savored all the moments, and I know I will someday wish I could return to the time before I first read Drayton and Mackenzie so I can experience it for the first time again.
September 3, 2025
I came to this book from a mention in the Guardian, not having come across the author before. There’s a TEDx tell of him talking about his time as a headline writer on the Daily Mail, which is worth watching.
It’s unusual for me to read something in the same year it was published, but I was gripped by this relatively long novel. It deals well with the experience of being grunts with degrees from top universities in management consultancy, McKinsey in this case. I liked the use of real businesses rather than thinly disguised equivalents and the 2007-8 crash is very well explained. I liked the involvement of Peter Thiel and Elon Musk, which put their enormous achievements in perspective. Overwork and the stresses it creates was also very well examined.
But ultimately this is a book about friendship, leadership, work and the huge challenges to starting an innovative business. Relationships outside work are thoughtfully handled. Alice could have been a cipher but is well-realised and sympathetic. Bravo!
It’s unusual for me to read something in the same year it was published, but I was gripped by this relatively long novel. It deals well with the experience of being grunts with degrees from top universities in management consultancy, McKinsey in this case. I liked the use of real businesses rather than thinly disguised equivalents and the 2007-8 crash is very well explained. I liked the involvement of Peter Thiel and Elon Musk, which put their enormous achievements in perspective. Overwork and the stresses it creates was also very well examined.
But ultimately this is a book about friendship, leadership, work and the huge challenges to starting an innovative business. Relationships outside work are thoughtfully handled. Alice could have been a cipher but is well-realised and sympathetic. Bravo!
September 12, 2025
This is my favorite new book in 2025, by a wide margin.
This novel snuck up on me. Midway through, it was good, but a couple of books on my shelf were calling me, and I wasn’t sure I cared enough about the leads to keep going (or put it to the side for a bit), but I’m glad I did. By the end, I was wiping my eyes and marveling at how deeply it had burrowed into my heart.
Starritt’s portrayal of male friendship is the most affecting I’ve read in years. The relationship between James Drayton and Roland Mackenzie unfolds slowly, shaped by ambition, failure, and the quiet moments that define a life. It’s not flashy, but it’s honest, and that honesty hits hard.
Too bad it’s not available in the U.S., I had to order it from a UK retailer, but it was worth every bit of effort. A weeper of a novel, and one I’ll be recommending for a long time.
This novel snuck up on me. Midway through, it was good, but a couple of books on my shelf were calling me, and I wasn’t sure I cared enough about the leads to keep going (or put it to the side for a bit), but I’m glad I did. By the end, I was wiping my eyes and marveling at how deeply it had burrowed into my heart.
Starritt’s portrayal of male friendship is the most affecting I’ve read in years. The relationship between James Drayton and Roland Mackenzie unfolds slowly, shaped by ambition, failure, and the quiet moments that define a life. It’s not flashy, but it’s honest, and that honesty hits hard.
Too bad it’s not available in the U.S., I had to order it from a UK retailer, but it was worth every bit of effort. A weeper of a novel, and one I’ll be recommending for a long time.
November 5, 2025
A real page turner
It’s hard to find modern books with male protagonists, written by male authors… Not that these are requirements for me to read a book, but it seems like publishing is completely dominated by and for women and/or victim stories these days. It was so refreshing to find this book, which I literally couldn’t put down. I’m still crying like a baby, who knew! A fantastic story about kismet, compromise, and big dreams… fulfilled and forgotten. Best book I’ve read in years.
It’s hard to find modern books with male protagonists, written by male authors… Not that these are requirements for me to read a book, but it seems like publishing is completely dominated by and for women and/or victim stories these days. It was so refreshing to find this book, which I literally couldn’t put down. I’m still crying like a baby, who knew! A fantastic story about kismet, compromise, and big dreams… fulfilled and forgotten. Best book I’ve read in years.
October 26, 2025
If only I could rate this higher! Among the best fiction reads for me. Loved the characters, plot and the humane angle behind this entrepreneurial and male friendship story. Story does take some time to build up over the years but gets really intriguing by the latter half of the book by which felt deeply vested in the plot. Peter Theil and Elon Musk guest appearances along with the intertwining of real life events to the story were an icing on the cake for me.
November 7, 2025
I thought this was brilliant! When explaining it to others it sounds like a dull story, with the plot focussed on upper-class kids, business and the economy. But the friendships, humour and intimacy kept me hooked! The book was also ambitious in its timeline, spanning huge global events from the 2018 recession right up to present day. As another reviewer says, it's the only portrayal of covid that doesn't make you want to hurl (even if it is crazy sad 😭)
November 19, 2025
Something really moved me about this book - beautiful observations about growing up, friendship and the individual quirks that make us who we are. Setting the story against the backdrop of the UK from the financial crash of 08 to Brexit and Covid was SO well done.
The characters were so thoroughly thought through and supported by an engaging narrative.
It’s not the most exciting read, but it has a lot to offer in its own special way
The characters were so thoroughly thought through and supported by an engaging narrative.
It’s not the most exciting read, but it has a lot to offer in its own special way
Read
August 29, 2025Forrest Gump meets every financial and political misery of the noughties, only with super-privileged Oxbridge graduates. Left with a feeling of what the point of it all was, which ties in nicely with the novel itself, but doesn't necessarily feel satisfying as a reader of (just) over 500 pages. Great wit in the writing.
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