An Unreliable Narrator

Arthur Winthrop is a third generation headmaster of a prestigious prep school in Vermont.  So when the reader finds him strolling naked through Central Park at the beginning of Thomas Christopher Greene’s The Headmaster’s Wife, we know that something is very wrong.  The first part of the book, told from Arthur’s point of view seems to be the straight forward story of a jaded, middle-aged academic who becomes romantically entangled, then obsessed with with a student.  Arthur seems to have lost his moral compass and engages in increasingly disturbing behavior.  It’s not until the second part of the story, told from the point of view of his wife, Elizabeth, that we discover that Arthur is an unreliable narrator, and we learn the reality of what he has lost.

If you enjoy books like this one where there is a moment when you question everything you just read, you may also like:

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Atmospheric Disturbances by Rivka Galchen

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

Life of Pi by Yan Martel