''Grantchester Grind'' is a novel written by

Tom Sharpe Thomas Ridley Sharpe (30 March 1928 – 6 June 2013) was an English satirical novelist, best known for his '' Wilt'' series, as well as ''Porterhouse Blue'' and ''Blott on the Landscape,'' all three of which were adapted for television. Life ...

, a British novelist born in 1928 who was educated at

Lancing College Lancing College is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in southern England, UK. The school is located in West Sussex, east of Worthing near the village of Lancing, on the south coast of England. ...

and then at Pembroke College, Cambridge.

Premise

''Grantchester Grind'' follows on from the story of the fictitious Porterhouse College,

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

, started in the previous book, ''

Porterhouse Blue ''Porterhouse Blue'' is a novel written by Tom Sharpe, first published in 1974. A satirical look at Cambridge life and the struggle between tradition and reform, ''Porterhouse Blue'' tells the story of Skullion, the Head Porter of Porterhouse, ...

''.

Plot

Porterhouse is a college which had an incident involving a

bedder The term "bedder" is short for "bedmaker" and is the official term for a housekeeper in a college of the University of Cambridge. The equivalent at the University of Oxford is known as a "scout". The equivalent at Trinity College, Dublin was known ...

and the college's only research graduate student which caused the Bull Tower to be severely damaged. Since the college's funds were exhausted by a previous

bursar A bursar (derived from " bursa", Latin for '' purse'') is a professional administrator in a school or university often with a predominantly financial role. In the United States, bursars usually hold office only at the level of higher education ( ...

with a tendency to gamble, one of the story's central themes is guided by the Senior Members' attempts to acquire funds for the college. The new Master, Skullion, the previous Head Porter of the college, is frail after a stroke (or a '' 'Porterhouse Blue' '', hence the previous book's title) and the issues surrounding the death of the previous Master, Sir Godber Evans, prompt his widow to instigate a plan to investigate the death through a planted

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

, backed by a large, anonymous donation to the college. Meanwhile, the

Dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

of the college takes it upon himself to visit prosperous Old Porterthusians (previous members of Porterhouse) in the hope that one is willing and able to become Master if and when Skullion cannot continue. At the same time, the current Bursar is contacted by an American media mogul who seems to be interested in supporting the college without clarifying what it is he wants in return. At the end of the novel the alcoholic Lord Jeremy Pimpole is appointed as Master of the college. Incidents from ''Ancestral Vices'', another Tom Sharpe novel, are mentioned in

crossover Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Albums and songs * ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album) * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album) * ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album) * ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...

References

* 1995 British novels British satirical novels Novels by Tom Sharpe Novels set in University of Cambridge Secker & Warburg books {{1990s-satirical-novel-stub

Premise

Plot

See also

References