Peter Binney: A Novel

A self-made, prosperous manufacturer resolves to involve himself in his son Lucius's undergraduate life at Cambridge, prompting a series of comic and sometimes embarrassing episodes. The narrative follows father and son through tutor interviews, debating-society appearances, social dinners, romantic encounters, and college mishaps, portraying the rituals and lighter side of undergraduate routine. Through episodic incidents the story contrasts generational attitudes, social ambition, and the awkward mingling of provincial wealth with collegiate manners, using gentle satire and warm observation to map personal pride, youthful camaraderie, and small disasters that shape the son's passage through university.