I have always been a fan of the roman fleuve, and count Anthony Powell’s Dance to the Music of Time, C P Snow’s Strangers and Brothers and especially Simon Raven’s Alms for Oblivion sequences among my favourites. I had tended to group J. I. M. Stewart's marvellous five novel sequence A Staircase in Surrey as being on a par with them. It does, after all, include Young Pattullo, which is possibly my favourite novel ever (out of about five thousand that I have read to date).

I have, however, found myself pulled up short while re-reading the sequence. The first three volumes had been as enjoyable as ever, but I found myself thoroughly out of sorts with this instalment, and am going through a grievous process of reassessment. The book picks up almost immediately after the end of its predecessor, A Memorial Service, with Duncan Pattullo finding himself in the third term of his first year as a Fellow of his old Oxford college. His aging mentor (and distant relative) Arnold Lempriere is concerned about the state of the College's historic and imposing tower, and it gradually becomes apparent that extensive and unavoidably expensive restoration work will be required, at a cost considerably beyond the College's current means. Meanwhile the likeable Nick Junkin has been soliciting support among the Fellows for the College’s Dramatic Society to be allowed to stage Marlowe's Tamburlaine the Great in the quadrangle.

Pattullo, as one would expect, is playing his part to help Junkin’s project but is rather distracted by the sudden reappearance in his life of his former wife, the beautiful but utterly ghastly Penny, who seems bent on strewing mischief in her wake. At this point an old master is discovered in a lumber room at the base of the College’s threatened tower. The painting depicts the Madonna and Child, the latter of whom is clutching an astrolabe. Could this be salvation for the College?

Stewart handles his characters with dexterity and affection, steering them through the rapids and pitfalls (hey, I can mix metaphors with the best of them!) of this short (just eight weeks) but hectic final term. Duncan Pattullo is sensitive and always plausible and the humour is intelligent and engaging. I wish I had had tutors like that when I was an undergraduate! I did, however, find the whole sub-plot involving Penny Pattullo added nothing and, indeed, detracted quite a lot from the flow of the story. Considering how deftly Stewart writes elsewhere, this novel seems a poor companion to the rest of the sequence. ( )

This is possibly the weakest volume of Stewart's marvellous five novel sequence "A Staircase ion Surrey", but it is still pretty damn' good.
It picks up pretty well straight after the end of "A Memorial Service", with Duncan Pattullo finding himself in the third term of his first year as a Fellow of his old Oxford college. His aging mentor (and distant relative) Arnold Lempriere is concerned about the state of the College's historic and imposing tower, and it gradually becomes apparent that extensive and unavoidably expensive restoration work will be required, beyond the College's current means. Meanwhile the likeable Nick Junkin has been soliciting support among the Fellows for the Dramatic Society to be allowed to stage Marlowe's "Tamburlaine the Great" in the quadrangle.
Meanwhile Pattullo is rather distracted by the sudden reappearance in his life of his former wife, the beautiful but rather ghastly Penny, who seems bent on strewing mischief in her wake. And then an Old master is discovered in a lumber room under the tower depicting the Madonna and Child, the latter of whom is clutching an astrolabe. Could this be salvation for the College?
Stewart handles his characters with dexterity and affection, steering them through the rapids and pitfalls (hey, I can mix metaphors with the best of them!) of this short (just eight weeks) but hectic final term. Duncan Pattullo is sensitive and always plausible and the humour is intelligent and engaging. I wish i had had tutors like that when I was an undergraduate! ( )