The novel is filled with those battles of right against right that are engrossing to read about, and agonizing to endure. How much do you change a school in order to save it? Who owns the legacy of the colonial past, the colonizers or their victims? What happens to a marriage when two dedicated people see the narrative of their lives, spent together in common cause, diverging beyond their ability to comprehend?
This is also a novel about leadership, its limitations and its costs. Kindler realizes, like most leaders, that “sometimes the person with the most responsibility is the one with the least power”. Throughout the book, other power centers than the head’s office rise up or fall, few of them owing any of their strength to the money or prestige that novices think dominate the school world.
The novel ends neither tragically nor triumphantly, but with utter plausibility. Among Kindler’s gains–and this review may have left a false impression that he is center stage all the time–is the respect of some of his most dogged opponents, one of whom realizes, near the novel’s ned, a rarely noted demand of leadership: “Later it will occur to him that checking your feelings, holding the inside where they burn, is what a leader has to do. Every day.”
Steve Davenport has let us inside a school–every school–in ways that are burning, and illuminating.
Richard Barbieri, Interim Head, STONE RIDGE ADADEMYOF THE SACRED HEART, Maryland
“I started this marvelous book at 5pm and finished it at 4am.”
Note left in Saving Miss Oliver’s at the EDGARTOWN, MASS LIBRARY
“A novel that knows how it is to lead. Few novels attempt to capture the challenges of leading a beloved school, and none do so better than Saving Miss Oliver’s. Leaders of colleges, churches, art museums, and other much-loved institutions will resonate with Fred Kindler’s difficulties, as he becomes the first male head of a boarding school for girls. Saving Miss Oliver’s combines the usual novelistic virtues–convincing characters, artful language, and an intriguing plot–with a grasp of organizational dynamics and the challenges of leadership that make it a rare treat for readers who are also leaders.”
Dan Hotchkiss, senior consultant, THE ALBAN INSTITUTE, Middleboro, Mass.
“Couldn’t put it down. My copy of SAVING MISS OLIVER’S arrived a few hours before we set sail for Hawaii, a long awaited holiday. I replaced THE WORLD IS FLAT with it in my bag and, once begun, I couldn’t put it down. It was as if this story had a wire attached to my brain, my very soul, and my memories.”
Stephen Waters, Deering, N.H
Woven through “Saving Miss Oliver’s” is homage to teachers and the art of teaching. Almost exactly in the middle of the story, and thus at its core, is the extended scene in which Francis Plummer teaches Robert Frost’s “Home Burial” to a class of ninth grade girls. It is a revelation of the passion, dedication and talent that mark great teachers. At last a writer is showing these men and women, real heroes, at their actual work.
Davenport’s ability to draw us into the lives of his characters underscores his talent of hitting the right notes in the lessons we draw from both them and him.
R. M. Bradford, Danville, California
“From the very first paragraphs, SAVING MISS OLIVERS is an engaging novel and is very highly recommended—.”
THE MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW
“This first novel is a winner….The plot is terrific, the characters come alive under Davenport’s pen. Having been a part of a university campus for several years, I found it rang so true I couldn’t put the book down”
Joyce Laabs, THE LAKELAND TIMES.
“Davenport’s talent is in his ability to create an emotional bond between the reader and the characters. This book is a genuine read.”
TCM REVIEWS
SAVING MISS OLIVER’S is a fascinating novel, a school story vibrant with personalities, crises, hopes, idealism, laughter, tears, struggle and soaring spirit. Anyone who has ever been a student, teacher, administrator, trustee or parent in a school will find the book riveting, and will stop again and again with recognition, shock and delight. The reader will care intensely about the persons and events in this book, the drama and comedy vividly alive in it.
-David Mallery, seminar leader and consultant to schools in the U.S. and abroad.
IT’S NO SURPRISE that Saving Miss Oliver’s is informed by a compassionate knowledge of the lives of all people who inhabit independent schools. After all, the book’s author spent years teaching at and leading this kind of institution, and later was one of the nation’s top consultants. He knows the territory.
What may be a surprise, though, is that the book is such a strong, beautifully wrought, engaging novel. As one reads along, it becomes clear that Davenport writes much too well and feels far too deeply for his complex and passionately human characters to resort to the hype and melodrama that so often maim “school” novels. Rather, he creates his figures and lets them live, struggle and develop in ways that are frequently moving and always honestly related.
In other words, the book steps beyond its genre. And in so doing, it powerfully reminds us that real people are at the heart of any first-rate school. Their integrity, strength of character, hope for the world, and courage are the capital good schools are always built on. Davenport knows this. At the end of Saving Miss Oliver’s so will you.
Peter Tacy, former Executive Director, The Connecticut Association of Independent Schools, and Head of The Marvelwood School, Kent, Connecticut.
THIS BOOK CAUGHT me by surprise – a surprise I would recommend to everyone. On the face of it, the story is about a difficult leadership transition in a well-established girls’ school that is experiencing hard times. It is much more. Mr. Davenport weaves an intricate tapestry of personal intrigue, educational excellence, institutional and cultural history and minefields in independent school leadership. His characters jump off the page and made me keep reading to find out what they were thinking, how they developed, and what they did next. I was enthralled by the story within the story and moved to tears by the strength and bravery of the characters who so quickly became my friends and acquaintances. This is a story of struggle and disappointment, but most of all it is a story about wisdom and hope.
-Jessie-Lea Abbott, Head of School, Katherine Delmar Burke School, San Francisco, California
STEVE DAVENPORT is a consummate schoolmaster and a gifted writer. In this splendid first novel, Davenport builds on all the other exceptional “school” novels: The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, the Rector of Justin, The Headmaster’s Papers, and The River King. Saving Miss Oliver’s is a must read for anyone who appreciates the seasons of a school’s life and the lives of people who make schools work.
-Peter Buttenheim, teacher and Director of Development, Sanford School, Hockessin, Delaware
STEVE DAVENPORT’S novel is fast-paced, entertaining and singularly evocative of the pressure-cooker atmosphere of a boarding school. Steve knows schools, and he brings us face to face with their passions, their absurdities and their virtues – especially when it comes to schools for girls.
-Rachel Belash, former head of Miss Porter’s School, Farmington, Connecticut
IF YOU ARE AN EDUCATOR and care about leadership and the role played by change in the life of a school, read this wonderful book.
-Rod Napier, President of The Napier group, consultant, teacher and author.
Some are called to serve in schools. Some are called to write. Davenport is called to both.
Annie Dillard
