Out of the blue, vain and naive former drama teacher, Tristram Randolph, is offered the job of headmaster at a new school in Diskebapisbad, dysfunctional capital of a despotic post-Soviet state. Little does he know– although the signs are obvious to all but him– that the school is the pet project of the ruthless president’s spoilt daughter. Randolph hires a motley crew of teachers, each of whom embodies one of the seven deadly sins. Swineforth International, a franchise of a third rate public school in England, is built on a half-finished campus in the desert. The food is appalling and there’s no escape as the foreign faculty have had their passports retained. When inspectors Swainson and Dare arrive from Swineforth in England, their grave reservations about the new school and Randolph’s ability to manage it are confirmed. Matters come to a head when a revolution breaks out, the school is shut down and Randolph is accused of aiding and abetting the rebellion. His only hope now lies in winning a presidential pardon by giving the performance of a lifetime as a pantomime dame.
Praise for the author’s debut novel, ‘A Blindefellows Chronicle’… “A sprightly, inventive novel, rich in amusing characters and situations. I enjoyed every word of it.” Tony Connor, Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
Review
I would like to thank the author for the ARC in return for an honest review.
I’m trying out a different type of review today. Short and snappy, rather than my normal longer review style. Let’s see how this goes.
I thought this charming read was amusing and full of a phlera of delightfully rich characters. Where else will you find a book, in which a characters only hope of gaining a pardon, is by putting on a performance as a dame? The sense of originality meant the story felt easy to read and yet at the same time keep me reading because the story was engaging as well as funny. I love delicate humour in novels, where it’s not forced and the balance here was good for me, the story both thrilling, charming and funny.
You can purchase this novel from Amazon
Auriel Roe
My debut novel, Blindefellows, was #1 in humour in Amazon US, UK and Canada last November making me – albeit briefly – the funniest person in the English-speaking world. Hoping to attain that accolade again with novel #2, Let The Swine Go Forth. In the early part of my career I was a teacher of art, drama and English. Somehow, this alchemic mix of subjects lead me to a writing career. It wasn’t planned, I simply woke up with a story in my head which was subsequently shortlisted in a major UK short story competition. This short story then morphed into a novel, with said short story becoming the last chapter. I am also an artist with a couple of shortlisted Royal Academy pieces. Shortlisting is a bit of a theme here and I feel honoured to have got so far but to win, ah, to win…
booksaremycwtches 