From Publishers Weekly
Set in classic Westall country-the north of England, shortly after WWII-this atmospheric novel tackles fairly sophisticated subject matter: a 17-year-old's affair with a woman nearly twice his age. Swarthy, muscular Robbie Atkinson has become one of the school's most respected boys. Over the course of a few months, he attracts the interest of a teacher, beautiful Emma Harris, whose fiance was killed in the war. Though it starts out innocently enough, Robbie and Emma's friendship develops-in fits and starts-into a full-fledged love affair. Their efforts at concealment (along with their tender, sexually charged interludes) give the narrative plenty of zip. Further jolts to the adrenals are provided by Robbie's Machiavellian efforts to ensure a long-sought victory for the school rugby team, of which he is the unofficial leader. Peppered with colorful dialect, the first-person narrative authoritatively sweeps the reader along. An underlying theme-Robbie's identification with Heathcliff, that other dark and calculating northerner-rises masterfully to the surface in the novel's bittersweet conclusion. Ages 14-up.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Gr. 9^-12. Robbie, 17, is a ruggedly handsome bloke, an exceptional student, an excellent athlete, a prefect, in love with and loved by the beautiful young English teacher Emma Harris. Although full of Britishisms and saturated in 1950s English ambience, the novel transcends place to address universal adolescent issues: friends, future, family, and the inevitable first love. That this love happens to be a beautiful and popular teacher, a reciprocated love fraught with the danger of discovery, only adds to the book's intrigue. The couple's furtive, passionate love is juxtaposed with the chaos and brutality of both the game of rugby and the English school culture itself. Indeed, if there is a criticism, it is the stereotypical nature of the school scene--the self-absorbed academics, the hazing of the weak, the uncompromising, mean-spirited discipline. However, both Robbie and Emma are multidimensional characters whose love seems ill-fated, yet destined. Robbie struggles with a series of ethical dilemmas and is well aware of the difference between his normal relationship with schoolmate Joyce, a decoy he has carefully crafted, and the dark, surreptitious nature of his and Emma's passion. Emma, however, is no Mrs. Robinson. Her fiance{‚}having been killed in the war, she is full of longing and loneliness, trapped in a small town and career that offer few diversions. Westall doesn't allow this to fall into tragedy--sadness, perhaps, but not tragedy. Although some may complain that the ending is too pat, too tightly complete, it seems an appropriate, sort of 1950s, denouement that is somehow fitting for a posthumous release.
Frances Bradburn
