The best novel I've read in 2008 so far...wonderfully evocative tale about school life and the grim reality of life under Communist rule. Above all, a heart-warming tale of amour-fou... Set in 1960s Warsaw it follows our protagonist-narrator, a sixth former, as he attempts to woo his new headmistress and French teacher. He is an intellectual and the 400 pages that follow his intellectual adventures are a delight! (It is a totally clean book: Muslim friendly in case any brothers are worried by the words 'woo' and 'amour'...Francophiles will especially like it.
