One of them is a Roman Catholic, the other is a Jew. “ ’Boys,’ he said, ‘There are two new-comers this term who are a different creed to the rest of you. Here’s a headmaster encouraging tolerance and respect: Privileged, of course, and set in the 1890s, but the anecdotes and observations are fairly timeless. If only – after a first cigarette on a dormitory roof, when the older boy of his dreams leant forward to fold him in his arms – he hadn’t thrown up. One critic notes that the book is “alive with unforgotten terrors and unforgiven indignities”, but one could add a few juvenile triumphs too, as well as the occasional regret. Fluid, witty, easy-going – the talented and eccentric Lord Berners delivers these reminiscences of childhood and early schooldays with quiet charm and vitality.
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