However, whilst I enjoyed the powerful feminist vibes peppered throughout, the story itself was slow and tiresome. Thus one of the main themes of the book is that of being a woman, and what a woman’s role in society entails. It’s a wonderful blending of a smart plot, impeccable writing, sympathetic characters, and a mystery that will keep you guessing.

Rebecca is the new Headmaster of what was formerly an all-boys’ private school that is opening up to girls for the first time in its history. She also spends too much time on Twitter; plays flute and bass guitar in a band first formed when she was 16; and works from a shed in her garden at her home in Yorkshire.

She has taken the reins in the year that the Boys Grammar School merges with its sister school, Mulberry House, thereby admitting girls to the hallowed halls. Rebecca begins to tell essentially her background story to Straitley and therefore us, the reader too. The “narrow door” of the title is a nod both to ALICE IN WONDERLAND and to the title of GENTLEMEN AND PLAYERS (the inscription on the gates of Lords cricket ground), and the class division it portrays.

A Narrow Door’ was a well written novel, that I couldn’t quite give up on, but couldn’t quite commit to either. Why do you think the author chose to include a trans character in this book, and how does Ben’s decision to reveal this affect Straitley? At the end of the school year her teenage brother, Conrad, disappeared from his school – the neighbouring King Henry’s Grammar – never to be seen again.The various experiences that Ms Buckfast underwent during her teens and twenties simply failed my verisimilitude test, and I found the credibility gap simply too wide. I thoroughly enjoyed Gentlemen and Players and Different Class and this is a worthy third and final chapter in a series that follows the life of Latin teacher, Roy Straitley, and his fellow teachers and pupils at St Oswalds. uk/landing-page/orion/orion-company-information/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Orion Publishing Group Limited. Rebecca and Roy make up the core of this story, both taunted by episodes from their past, both tortured by memories of important people now missing from their lives.