The Headmaster's Wife

Cultural shifts of the late twentieth century reveal dark secrets at an elite prep school, in this posthumously discovered novel by the author of Our Crowd. Located in bucolic Connecticut, the Crittenden School has long held a venerable reputation as one of New Englands premier preparatory schools. However, times are changing, and that change is coming to Crittenden. In the midst of social upheaval, the headmasters wife, Clarissa Spotswood, is thrust into faculty and student intriguesa role for which she is woefully unprepared. Clarissa has spent the past thirty years quietly standing by her husband, Headmaster Hobart Spotswood, projecting the image of the model society wife. But this meticulous faade is shattered when Clarissa uncovers horrific events within the schools insular community. And interspersed with the drama is Clarissas own journal entries revealing a secret history of her own. Previously unpublished, The Headmasters Wife was written by the late Stephen Birmingham, author of notable works such as Real Lace and Life at the Dakota. Discovered after Birminghams death, the manuscript was transcribed and edited by his son, Carey Birmingham.