Set in a private school a little in the past - at a time of turbulence
following the death of the old headmaster - a sinister thread runs
through the attempts to take the school forward, where issues of child
protection risk being buried in the protection of profits.
In this school examination, with few sources of light amidst the dark
shadows, there is a slow reveal of events as the story unfolds. The
outcome is uncertain - will things be swept under the carpet or will the
rottenness at the heart of this particular academic establishment be
exposed?
Not exactly a work of crime fiction, this novel is, however, written
almost like a reconstruction of events. Characters' names are in effect
redacted, with the resulting use of job titles serving in some cases to
emphasize how individuals can hide behind their positions of authority
and in other cases how victims can lose their precious personalities.
Now that we know how widespread the failure to protect the vulnerable
has been in schools and institutions, how could it have happened? is the
constant question. This novel explores that.