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There are currently 23 member reviews
for The Headmaster's Wife
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Shelly B. (Staten Island, NY)
The Headmaster's Wife
I did not enjoy this book. I gave it 3 stars but I really feel 2 1/2 stars is more how I feel it deserves. The second part, the wife's voice, was better than the husband's voice. I did not connect with him at all.
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Kathrin C. (Corona, CA)
Less Than Redeeming
I really wanted to like this book more than I did - probably based on positive commentary from the likes of Wally Lamb and Richard Russo. But I finished the novel with a slightly sour taste in my mouth. Greene's writing seemed skillful enough and he creates some deft sketches of private school life, but his two main characters, the headmaster and his wife, never reached that redeeming spot of "flawed but likeable." I never emotionally connected with them and it felt as if I was reading distant narratives of a middle-aged couple's intimate thoughts. The story lacked a cohesion to let some of its themes shine through - the trials of aging, the grief of losing a child.
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Linda S. (Arlington Heights, IL)
The Headmaster's head trip
This book was a pretty easy, fast read. I'm glad I finished it. When it began I was very inclined to stop reading. I didn't like where the story was headed. I found it repugnant actually. But I sensed there was more to it so I kept on. I'm glad I did as the second half explained the realities of the first half. That being said, I thought the book was a bit unbelievable and shallow. Wrapped up all tidy. It wasn't a horrible book but I don't know how I would recommend it without giving away the first part to convince reader to read last part.
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Mary M. (Dallas, TX)
Headmaster's Dive
I tried hard to like The Headmaster's Wife but found it to be a nicely written cliche with not much to pull the reader in but rather a book to put down and forget.
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Deborah M. (Chambersburg, PA)
Rather Depressing
What started out as a strange novel ended up also being a sad and depressing one. Arthur Winthrop, the 50-something headmaster of a Vermont prep school, has just been arrested for running naked in Central Park in the middle of a snowy winter's evening. In the police station, he begins to unravel his story. Bored with the job that he virtually inherited from his father and with his increasingly distant wife, Arthur has begun to drink heavily--and to obsess about one of his students. He confesses to having done some creepy and horrible things, putting his job on the line--and now this.
Halfway through the book, I began to wonder why it was titled The Headmaster's WIFE--and then the author drops a bomb that totally turns the plot around, devoting the second half of the book to Elizabeth Winthrop's story. I won't reveal what changes the reader's perspective, in case anyone wants to read the book, but suffice it to say that it's one of those revelations that is truly surprising and that also kind of makes you groan because you should have figured it out. Although Greene tries to conclude on a hopeful note, I found the sadness overwhelming. Perhaps that is because, as Greene notes in the afterward, he started writing it during the six months that his now-deceased daughter spent in a neo-natal ICU; he dedicates the book to her.
Written in short chapters and a relatively spare style, The Headmaster's Wife is a quick read with some compelling (if creepy) moments. It ended up being quite different from the publishers' blurb. Someone who enjoys psychological studies might enjoy it more than I did.
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Maggie S. (Durango, CO)
The Headmasters Wife
The Headmasters Wife by Thomas Christopher Greene is a very sad novel and I would use caution when recommending it. I was ready to put it down because I could not sympathize with many of the characters and I didn't like the way the story was unfolding, but the author tricked me with a major plot twist so I did read it to the end. Not one of my favorites.
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Jill S. (Chicago, IL)
Never felt immersed
I tend to gravitate to novels with college settings and this one sounded remarkable: combining a psychological mystery with a close look at a family and events spiraling out of control. However, I found the prose to be somewhat self-conscious and serviceable. I never felt immersed in the story and certain plot twists seemed implausible. Didn't quite make it for me.
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