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The Lessons by Naomi Alderman

Hidden away in an Oxford back street is a crumbling Georgian mansion. It remains unknown to any but a few who possess a key to its unassuming front gate. It is owned by the mercurial and charismatic Mark Winters, whose trust fund upbringing has left him as troubled and unpredictable as he is wildly promiscuous.

Mark gathers an impressive group of students around him. There is glamorous Emmanuella, who always has a new boyfriend in tow, Franny and Simon who are best friends and occasional lovers, Jess, a musician whose calm exterior hides passionate depths and James who is already damaged by Oxford and is looking for a group to belong to.

For a time the group live in a charmed world of learning, parties and love affairs. They find though that university is no grounding for real life, and the story picks up again years later when tragedy strikes, hopes have been shattered also friends and lovers have been betrayed.

It is a story of shattered hopes, destructive affairs and dark secrets with themes of ambition, desire and betrayal. The Lessons is at times funny and moving but with its characters and events is always entertaining.

RRP $39.00

Published and distributed by Penguin Group under the Viking title

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