A Schoolmaster's Tale - Couverture souple

Owen, Alun D. W.

Couverture souple

ISBN 13 : 9798761633179

Editeur : Independently published, 2021

Synopsis

A Schoolmaster’s Tale is set in a fictitious industrial town in the north-west of England.
Spanning the years between the 1930s and the 1970s, the story involves a rich array of characters
working and interacting in a high-achieving boys’ grammar school. Presiding over this prestigious
institution is the self-effacing and revered Dr Davenport, himself an outstanding academic and
sportsman, but afflicted with a severe personality disorder.

When the recently demobbed Richard Nobbs arrives as the new woodwork master, things
will never be the same again. Indeed, he is Dr Davenport’s antithesis: a manipulative, mendacious
and foul-mouthed egotist, who meets and marries the beautiful and ambitious Amanda Green.

The novel begins in April 1977, with Nobbs now installed as the Headmaster of the newly-
formed comprehensive school. A female R.E. teacher asks one of the old grammar school
stalwarts, the diminutive Frank Fairclough, to deal with an obstreperous
fourth year pupil. The following Monday, the boy’s father, a huge man with a reputation for
violence, calls at the School demanding to see the Headmaster about the “physical assault”
on his son. Nobbs judiciously retreats to his bathroom, leaving his Secretary, Martha Wolf,
to fetch Frank Fairclough to see to the irate parent, who unwisely refers to Frank as a "cripple".
A David and Goliath contest ensues.

Much of the latter part of the novel highlights the conflicts of interest and tensions which arise when the
Grammar School is merged with the neighbouring Secondary Modern to form a Comprehensive
School. More particularly, it plots the unscrupulous and opportunistic Nobbs's rise to the pinnacle of his
profession.

Perhaps the novel’s most intriguing character is Martha Wolf, an ex-Bletchley girl with a tragic history,
whom Dr Davenport appointed as the School’s Secretary in 1945. Having served four headmasters
(each with his unique backstory) very happily over the years, she now finds herself doing the objectionable
Nobbs’s bidding, largely to please his wife with whom she has formed a very close friendship.

Despite Nobbs's phenomenal success, he and Amanda are becoming increasingly preoccupied with their
inability to start a family, and the novel ends with Amanda's audacious attempt to set things aright.

Is honesty always the right policy? Or does Nobbs get his comeuppance?

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Independently published
• Date d'édition: 2021
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 13: 9798761633179
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 555
• Coordonnées du fabricant: Printed by Amazon on behalf of the author; https://www.amazon.fr/hz/contact-us; ; c/o Amazon Media EU S.à.r.l., 38 Avenue John F. Kennedy; Luxembourg; L-1855; Luxembourg