Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Campbell Flynn, art historian and biographer of Vermeer, always knew that when his life came crashing down, it would happen in public--yet he never imagined that a single year in London would expose so much. Entangled with a brilliant student, he begins to see trouble brewing for his family and friends. All his worlds collide--the art scene and academia, fashion and the English aristocracy, journalism and the internet--as dangerous forces enter his life and Caledonian Road gives up its secrets.
Andrew O'Hagan has written a social novel in the Victorian style, drawing a whole cast of characters into company with each other and revealing the inner energies of the way we live now.
"Not only a peerless chronicler of our times, O'Hagan has generosity, humour and tenderness, which make this novel an utter joy to read."--Monica Ali, author of Love Marriage and Brick Lane
Synopsis
Campbell Flynn, art historian, professor, and feted fixture of the literati, always knew that when his life came crashing down, it would happen in public--yet he never imagined that a single year in London would expose so much.
He's never taken other people half as seriously as they take themselves, which is the first of his mistakes. The second is a new project: opportunistic and precisely calibrated to rake in a fortune. Riding on the high of a best-selling biography of Vermeer and fielding more inquiries and requests than he has the time or patience to pursue, Campbell has nevertheless still not managed to shake the question of money. The fact of his quiet loan from a school friend now embroiled in scandal makes the ever-present worry feel even more pressing. His unflappable agent, Atticus; his steadfast wife, Elizabeth; his sister, Moira, crusading parliamentarian for the poor; his well-adjusted, well-off adult children, Angus and Kenzie; and all the outward trappings of success can't conceal that something in his life is off.
As Campbell becomes increasingly entangled with a brilliant student, convention-smashing and working class, like he used to be, he feels he's been given a second chance to embrace the change that frightens him, even as he sees trouble brewing for his family and friends. Campbell's personal quest takes him down darker roads than he could have imagined, and all his worlds--the art scene and academia, fashion and the English aristocracy, journalism and the internet--collide in spectacular fashion, culminating in one shocking night on Caledonian Road.