Some stories have a twist that really gets you, and I would say that this is one of them. Thomas Christopher Greene wrote a book that seems crazy, but is more relatable than you’d think.
Arthur Winthrop, headmaster is Lancaster School, is found wandering naked in Central Park, in the dead of winter. The cops bring him in, and he tells them his dark story.
It begins with a student– Betsy. She’s not like the other kids, who come from money. She’s there on scholarship, and she’s one of the brightest in her class. Arthur sees potential in her. And then he sees more.
After an elicit tryst during an academic conference, Arthur finds himself obsessed with Betsy. When she spurns him for a fellow student, Arthur gets irate, and takes his anger out on Betsy. His lapse in judgment is what led him to Central Park.
In the second part of the book, we get Betsy’s side of the story. She had humble beginnings and big dreams. And her relationship with Arthur has more to it than meets the eye.
There is a pretty serious plot twist in here. It isn’t completely mind-blowing, but it puts the story in a whole new light. Where the first half is almost hard to read (Arthur does some crazy things), the second half shift the perception of everything. It makes Arthur’s actions more understandable, even if they are still deplorable.
Arthur isn’t a character who is particularly relatable, unless you happen to be the headmaster of a New England prep school, but his emotions are something we’re all familiar with.
Another win for the page-a-day calendar.
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