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Rydon Hall
Charles Goldforbes is the new Latin teacher at Rydon Hall, the third best boys' prep school in Churley, south-west London. Along with the job come two related problems. One is the hideous Florian Bavington, aged 13 but already a master of low-level disruption. The other is the disturbingly alluring Natasha Bavington, Florian’s mother.Drama unfolds as Charles accompanies Florian and the rest of Year 8 on the annual school trip to Egypt, a country which just happens to be on the brink of revolution. The Arab Spring is underway but the tour party’s problems are only just beginning.Rydon Hall captures brilliantly the spirit of an all-boys’ school - and those who teach there. The recklessness and over-confidence of Florian and his friends are in turn both hilarious and exasperating.Very funny but also very dark, this novel is about desperation, disappointment, self-delusion and every parent’s worst nightmare. It is also about global terror, bogus celebrity, Skype and excruciating sex.
306 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 8, 2020
Review pending release from Author Alliance
April 7, 2015
I thoroughly enjoyed this - it gets going immediately and trundles along very happily until, a few hours later, one realises one's finished it. A (good) comedy of (bad) manners, there are many excellent jokes, some more than adequate, and very few passages that won't raise at least an amused snort.
While our hero is a teacher, sort of, of Latin, and lots of the best jokes are born in his experience in this field, these are by no means inaccessible to the non-classicist, or even to the non-teacher: while Latin teachers may feel especially privileged as a target audience, the rest of the world, even the modern world, will surely enjoy this farcical slapstick romp, yes, with added political and social comment, some of it dark(-ish, though I think some of my fellow reviewers have made too much of this).
Only 4 stars for two reasons: some of the characters and their various motivations are, frankly, 'a bit all over the place'; and on occasion the novel does begin to feel a little shapeless (without ever becoming boring!): one wonders if it sometimes loses its way slightly, or simply hasn't been edited ruthlessly enough.
But these are minor grumbles: I would thoroughly recommend it; in fact, I wish I'd written it!
While our hero is a teacher, sort of, of Latin, and lots of the best jokes are born in his experience in this field, these are by no means inaccessible to the non-classicist, or even to the non-teacher: while Latin teachers may feel especially privileged as a target audience, the rest of the world, even the modern world, will surely enjoy this farcical slapstick romp, yes, with added political and social comment, some of it dark(-ish, though I think some of my fellow reviewers have made too much of this).
Only 4 stars for two reasons: some of the characters and their various motivations are, frankly, 'a bit all over the place'; and on occasion the novel does begin to feel a little shapeless (without ever becoming boring!): one wonders if it sometimes loses its way slightly, or simply hasn't been edited ruthlessly enough.
But these are minor grumbles: I would thoroughly recommend it; in fact, I wish I'd written it!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews