The Principals

November 1, 2016

There is no battle quite like a pitched battle in British academia. In 1987, a time of austerity and deep budget cuts by the Thatcher government, Lawford Chote and Victor Tane merge their respective institutions, Sedge University, a Victorian red brick school, and Charter Mill, an arriviste upstart from the 1960s. Thirty years later, one of the few surviving lecturers from that period, Martin Moss, is shepherding the commissioning of statues to honor these principals. The narrative switches back and forth between the two periods. VERDICT Full disclosure: this reviewer is the daughter of a British history specialist, and this satirical look at the country's elite university culture is spot-on. James (First Fix Your Alibi) is bound to please fans of Sarah Caudwell or Robertson Davies.--Viccy Kemp, Flower Mound P.L, TX

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from October 15, 2016
James' latest moves away from crime fiction but finds the veteran novelist at his satirical best, as he exposes the one-upmanship, subtle insults, backbiting, pretentiousness, and twisted politics of academia. For readers, it's difficult to know whether to squirm with embarrassment or laugh out loud at the antics of the self-important group of university dons featured in the story. Dr. Lawford Chute, president of Sedge University, was a belligerent visionary who aimed to make Sedge a dominant player in British academia by merging the school with Charter Mill College, a moneymaking institution offering courses in pop-group management, pinball, and fruit-machine repair. But his ambition took him down wrong paths, and his rival, Dr. Victor Tane, president of Charter Mill, turned the tables, forcing Chute to retire in disgrace. Tane then orchestrated the merging of the two schools and became president of what grew into a respected institution. Twenty years later, Chute's tarnished reputation has been restored, and the university has decided to erect statues to him and Tane for their brilliance and vision. Now, however, the real test begins, as the Commemorative Statues Committee is faced with the daunting task of determining the relative size and position of the two sculptures as well as choosing the model on which the sculptor will base the two works. A droll, delightful, skillfully written piece of academic satire.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)