First published 1992
Madge Fielding stands in the doorway of her grandmother's coastal house, keys heavy in her palm. She has decided to rent rooms for the summer to two Oxford philosophy professors and their families and students. The arrangement seems practical enough until the academics arrive with their fierce debates and relentless questioning of everything she has taken for granted. Madge finds herself drawn into conversations that stretch her mind in ways she never expected. The philosophers argue late into the night about truth and meaning while their children play on the beach and their spouses navigate the strange intimacy of shared summer quarters. As the weeks pass, Madge discovers that ideas can be as intoxicating as wine and twice as dangerous. The intellectual ferment threatens to upend not just her quiet routine but her understanding of herself and what she wants from life.
Genres: literary-fiction, contemporary, family-drama, academic
Vibes: atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Oxford, Coastal House
Period: 20th-century
150 pages · Paperback · Random House UK