First published 1988
Thomas Mallon's debut novel examines the intersecting lives of faculty and students at a contemporary American university. The story follows academics navigating professional ambitions, personal relationships, and the tensions between intellectual pursuits and everyday human needs. Characters struggle with career pressures, romantic entanglements, and the gap between their scholarly ideals and messy realities. Set against the backdrop of campus politics and academic hierarchies, the novel reveals how personal desires clash with professional obligations. Mallon captures the particular world of higher education while exploring universal themes of love, ambition, and compromise. The narrative weaves together multiple storylines as characters confront choices that will define their futures both professionally and personally.
Genres: fiction, american-fiction, contemporary, academic
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: America, University
Period: Contemporary
210 pages · Hardcover · Ticknor & Fields