An Honourable Institution: Laura Lyndhurst

Laura Lyndhurst has taken a massive risk in creating a main character who is not only unlikeable but, frankly, abhorrent. Cressida is wealthy, arrogant, and has the morals of an alley cat. In the first chapters of the book, she doesn’t have a single redeeming feature as she uses her position to abuse and degrade those who are unfortunate enough to be drawn into her circle.
Cressida’s world implodes, however, when she is faced with a moral dilemma that will change her life forever, depending on the choices she makes. The path she chooses sets off a chain of events that affect everyone she comes in contact with, but also teaches her some of life’s toughest lessons.
The way in which Ms Lyndhurst teases out Cressida’s story left no doubt in my mind that the risk was well worth taking. Don’t expect a cosy bad-girl-turns-good-through-love scenario. That’s not what this story is about. Although Cressida does change (a lot), she doesn’t lose her essential character and, by the time the book came to its unexpected and startling conclusion, I was beginning to warm towards her.
An Honourable Institution is a rocky, uncomfortable ride that will stay in your mind long after you’ve devoured the last page. Read it. Today.