My guest today on What Cathy Read Next is author Lynne Kaufman. And it’s a special day because Lynne’s latest novel The Oxford Affair is published today by Measure Publishing.
Kirkus Reviews describe it as ‘A story that joyously celebrates all things British and literary. The characters take cues from Hamlet’s play within a play and the detective novels being studied to try to expose all. A sprightly mashup that pays loving tribute to Britain and literary genres’.
To get a flavour of the book, you can read an excerpt from The Oxford Affair below.
For US readers, The Oxford Affair is available to purchase now from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org.
About the Book
When Susan Klein arrives in Oxford to direct an elite adult summer school, she expects literary debates in a charming academic setting—not a body floating in the Thames. The victim? The college bursar. And the police have no suspects.
Enter Nelson Sinclair, a Southern restaurateur with a sharp mind, a courtly manner, and, as it turns out, a target on his back. As a prospective donor to the college, Nelson should be enjoying quiet afternoons under the historic spires. Instead, he’s dodging near-fatal “accidents” that seem ripped straight from the syllabus of the class he’s taking, The English Detective Story.
With danger closing in, Nelson convinces Susan to enroll in the course, and together they embark on a hunt for the truth—one that twists through Oxford’s cobbled streets, shadowy libraries, and secret societies. But as their investigation—and their undeniable attraction—intensifies, so does the peril. Could the murder of the bursar be tied to the threats on Nelson’s life? And if so, will they uncover the truth before it’s too late?
With wit, charm, and a dash of dark academia, this gripping mystery sweeps you into a world of cunning crimes, romantic love, and the timeless allure of Oxford’s dreaming spires.
Find The Oxford Affair on Goodreads
Excerpt from The Oxford Affair by Lynne Kaufman
CHAPTER ONE
“I loaf and invite my soul.” Walt Whitman
“Oxford. Picture yourself amidst the dreaming spires, part of an eight hundred year tradition of higher learning. Join a community of scholars. Live and study in a medieval college. Roam its ancient quads, its verdant gardens, its world class libraries. Discuss great ideas with your English don then break for tea in the golden Cotswold stone cloisters. Wile away an afternoon in a punt on the Isis or at a Shakespearean comedy or over a pint of bitters in an historic pub once frequented by C.S Lewis and J.R. Tolkein. And remember London is only an hour away about which Samuel Johnson opined, ‘When you’re tired of London, you’re tired of life.’
Inviting. You bet. At least it is to the more than one hundred American adults who plunk down their five thousand dollars for three weeks to become an Oxford scholar. I created CUOSS, an acronym for Coastal University Oxford Summer School. I wrote the copy, designed the brochure, marketed and administered it. And it is a major success. Ten years in the black. Continuing education is a business as I have explained to the occasional grousing enrollee and CUOSS is totally self supporting. So although we may not be a bargain we do give good value. And not only academically but socially, for you will be in the company of a bevy of self selected individuals interested in the life of the mind. The conversation over the three daily meals in Hall is bound to be stimulating. And who knows who might be sitting next to you?
I drop that hopeful innuendo especially when I’m talking to the single women of a certain age who make up most of our student body. It’s a pleasant, non pressured way to meet ‘new people’.
I, myself, know better. I have yet to meet an eligible man and I hold a very privileged and visible position. Susan Klein, M.A., the American Director of Studies. “You are so lucky”, students gush when they first meet me, “you get to come here every year.” “Yes, I have a great job,” I agree. But the operant word is ‘job’ and sometimes it gets old. But perhaps I am just cranky from being scrunched for ten hours between a bawling baby and a snoring septuagenarian. It would be wonderful to have the luxury of traveling business class.
Yet as soon as the plane wheels hit the tarmac, all discomfort is forgotten and I am delighted to be back on English soil. Disembarking, I set my watch eight hours ahead to six am. Shouldering my carry-on, I trudge the winding corridors of Heathrow, go through customs, retrieve my suitcase and board the Express coach to Oxford. The gray high rises of London soon morph into the rolling green, sheep grazing hills of the countryside. I tilt my seat back and gaze out the window at a brilliant blue cloudless sky.
Soon we are passing the familiar landmarks. Headington, Summertown and its Oxfam charity shop, the Fox and Grape pub with its hanging flower baskets, Boots the chemist, the all purpose superstore of Marks and Spencer, or Marks and Sparks as I’ve learned to call it. Then Magdalen Bridge, pronounced maudlin, which crosses the Thames and borders Magdalen College and its deer park. Once past the baroque façade of St. Mary’s Church on the High the coach lurches to a stop and I head down the cobblestones of Magpie Lane, named for the denizens of the bordellos it once housed, who were said to chatter like magpies.
The more experienced the traveller the lighter the baggage, and I have managed to pack just one suitcase. Granted English weather is unpredictable, but all you really need is a light raincoat, a few jerseys, a pair of sensible shoes, and some casual cotton clothing you can layer. Except for high table that is. Attendance requires a jacket and tie for men and something comparable for women, which depending on age and inclination can range from tailored pants to an Armani cocktail dress. ‘Beware of any enterprise requiring new clothes’. Was that Emerson or Thoreau? At any rate, neither was a woman.
About the Author
Lynne Kaufman ran the Oxford/Berkley summer school for 25 years, and is the author of Slow Hands, Wild Women’s Weekend, Taking Flight, and Divine Madness. The Oxford Affair is her fifth novel and is currently in consideration for film adaptation. She is also the author of twenty full length, nationally produced and award-winning plays. Her short stories have been published regularly in McCall’s, Redbook, Cosmopolitan, and Good Housekeeping. She lives in California.
Connect with Lynne
Website
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