Naomi Alderman's The Lessons reflects the truth that the lessons life
teaches often come too late.
Hidden away in an Oxford backstreet is a crumbling Georgian mansion,
unknown to any but the few who possess keys to its unassuming front
gate. Its owner is the mercurial, charismatic Mark Winters, whose
rackety trust-fund upbringing has left him as troubled and unpredictable
as he is wildly promiscuous.
Mark gathers around him an impressionable group of students: glamorous
Emmanuella, who always has a new boyfriend in tow; Franny and Simon,
best friends and occasional lovers; musician Jess, whose calm exterior
hides passionate depths. And James, already damaged by Oxford and
looking for a group to belong to.
For a time they live in a charmed world of learning and parties and love
affairs. But university is no grounding for adult life, and when, years
later, tragedy strikes, they are entirely unprepared.
Naomi Alderman grew up in the Orthodox Jewish community in Northwest
London. Her first novel, Disobedience, was published in 10 languages
and won the Orange Award for New Writers and the Sunday Times Young
Writer of the Year prize. Like her second novel, The Lessons, it was
broadcast as Radio 4's Book at Bedtime. She is a frequent radio
broadcaster, and she is a regular contributor to several publications,
including the Guardian and Prospect. She lives in London.
