In his debut novel, Mark Prins tells the story of Tessa, a PhD candidate in Oxford University. Tessa quickly finds out that her mentor, close friend, and head of the department, Chris has been sabotaging her career by sending recommendation letters to employers that are less-than-flattering. Once Tessa confronts Chris, their once close relationship crumbles. Slowly, Tessa attempts to pick herself up and get her career back on track without the help of her mentor. All in the while, Chris is dealing with his own demons and family issues. The story comes to a head with a classic, and slightly Latin-like, ending.
This week, we discuss what we think of yet another rookie author. We talk about the pros and cons of what Mark Prins was able to create in this story. We talk about his writing style, his heavy usage of Latin terminology, and how likely we are to recommend his novel. What did we think of Chris and Tessa and the oddity of their mentor/mentee relationship and what we would have done differently with this story. Join us for another episode of Men's Book Club.