Wilberforce
A Novel
H. S. Cross
- At
- St.
- Stephen's
- Academy,
- the
- students
- are
- on
- the
- verge
- of
- revolt.
- While
- the
- younger
- boys
- plot
- an
- insurrection,
- the
- older
- ones
- are
- preoccupied
- with
- sneaking
- out-of-bounds,
- thrashing
- each
- other,
- tearing
- each
- other's
- clothes
- off-or
- some
- combination
- of
- the
- three.
- Morgan
- Wilberforce,
- for
- one,
- can't
- take
- it
- any
- longer.Everything
- Wilberforce
- touches
- turns
- to
- disaster
- in
- his
- desperate
- attempts
- to
- fight
- off
- desire,
- boredom,
- and
- angst.
- He
- knocks
- himself
- unconscious
- tackling
- the
- unattainable
- Spaulding
- on
- the
- rugby
- pitch,
- his
- headmaster
- detests
- him
- for
- crimes
- committed
- years
- ago,
- and
- even
- his
- closest
- friends
- are
- subjecting
- him
- to
- physical
- tortures
- normally
- reserved
- for
- juniors.
- When
- an
- accident
- at
- the
- boarding
- school
- leaves
- him
- with
- more
- suffering
- than
- he
- could
- have
- fathomed,
- he
- finds
- himself
- alone
- and
- adrift.
- And
- the
- workaday
- charms
- of
- cricket
- practice,
- Victorian
- pornography,
- canings
- from
- classmates,
- and
- fumbling
- with
- the
- pub-keeper's
- daughter
- can
- only
- do
- so
- much
- to
- mend
- a
- broken
- body
- and
- a
- restless
- heart.Stylishly
- inventive,
- H.
- S.
- Cross
- has
- crafted
- an
- imaginative,
- ritualistic
- world
- of
- men
- and
- boys
- narrowly
- confined
- by
- tradition
- and
- authority.
- Wilberforce
- is
- an
- indelible
- portrait
- of
- a
- young
- man
- caught
- between
- lust
- and
- cruelty,
- grief
- and
- God,
- frustrated
- love
- and
- abject
- longing-and
- a
- tour
- de
- force
- that
- heralds
- the
- arrival
- of
- a
- brilliant
- new novelist.
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