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The Lessons

Hidden away in an Oxford back street is a crumbling Georgian mansion, unknown to any but the few who possess a key to its unassuming front gate. Its owner is the mercurial, charismatic Mark Winters, whose rackety trust-fund upbringing has left him as troubled and unpredictable as he is wildly promiscuous.

Mark gathers around him an impressionable group of students: glamorous Emmanuella, who always has a new boyfriend in tow; Franny and Simon, best friends and occasional lovers; musician Jess, whose calm exterior hides passionate depths. And James, already damaged by Oxford and looking for a group to belong to.

For a time they live in a charmed world of learning and parties and love affairs. But university is no grounding for adult life, and when, years later, tragedy strikes they are entirely unprepared.

Universal in its themes of ambition, desire and betrayal, this spellbinding novel reflects the truth that the lessons life teaches often come too late.

About Naomi Alderman

Naomi Alderman is an award-winning novelist, TV producer and videogames creator. She is the author of the bestselling The Power (Penguin Books 2017), winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction and since adapted for TV by Amazon Prime. Her other books include The Future (2023), The Liars’ Gospel (2013), The Lessons (2010) and Disobedience (2006) and the forthcoming non-fiction book about the information crisis: Don't Burn Anyone At The Stake Today. She is the co-creator of the fitness game and audio adventure Zombies, Run! which has more than 10 million players. Naomi writes and presents Human Intelligence, the history of thinkers from Socrates to Mary Wollstonecraft to Malcolm X on BBC Radio 4. She is Professor of Creative Writing at Bath Spa University and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
Details
  • Imprint: Penguin
  • ISBN: 9780141917665
  • Length: 288 pages
  • Price: £3.99
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