Synopsis
In The Headmaster’s Dilemma, Louis Auchincloss revisits the prep school world of his most famous novel. That book, The Rector of Justin, published in 1964, took the form of a fictional biography, giving the reader the full life story of a much beloved and revered, if also feared, headmaster of an exclusive New England prep school. In The Headmaster’s Dilemma, we see up close what happens when a school’s ideals and founding principles collide with the exigencies of change.
The Headmaster’s Dilemma is the story of Michael Sayre, the handsome, avant-garde headmaster of Averhill, the great New England prep school as he is faced with a school administrator’s worst nightmare: a lawsuit brought by fervent parents in response to an incident involving their son and an upperclassman. To make matters worse, Michael is losing support from both the board of trustees -- led by the conniving Donald Spencer -- and senior faculty members. With the help of his supportive wife, Michael attempts to right these wrongs, while keeping Averhill’s best interests in mind.
Patrick Sullivan - Library Journal
This is an effortlessly masterful novel from a legend in American letters who has spent his career chronicling the morally complex lives of New York's wealthy leisure class. Like his 1964 novel, The Rector of Justin, it's set at an elite prep school in the Northeast, and at its heart is an ugly incident involving a sexual assault in a boys' dormitory. This event ignites a dangerous conflict between two old rivals working at the school-the progressive headmaster, Michael Sayre, and the ambitious, vindictive chair of the Trustees, Donald Spencer. Spencer, who has sustained a long and quarrelsome history with Sayre, attempts to use the fallout from this incident to force the headmaster to resign. The characters here are all superbly drawn, from the unscrupulous Spencer to the tragically vulnerable young man who is assaulted. Auchincloss fearlessly examines the adolescent culture of bullying and sexual predation at this prestigious school. He also depicts the moral, political, and legal challenges faced by the valiant headmaster with extraordinary sympathy and insight. Recommended for all libraries. [See Prepub Alert, LJ5/15/07.]