Changes

|title=The History Room

|sort=History Room

|publisher=Pan

|date=May 2012

|website=http://www.elizagraham.co.uk

|video=

|summary=Meredith’s marriage is falling apart. She returns to the school that lay at the heart of her childhood, where her father is still headmaster, and takes up a teaching post there in the hope of finding solace. But her fragile peace is shattered by a sinister prank played in the history room…

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The novel begins with a key scene from Meredith’s childhood and then springs forward to the present day and the incident in the history room. The prank sets the tone for the whole novel – sinister in many subtle ways and having several layers of meaning. The cast assemble around the fall out from the prank and each character is beautifully drawn. Hugh, Meredith’s husband, is suffering the results of horrors he experienced in Helmand. Meredith’s immediate family are also traumatised by the death of her mother. In this highly charged atmosphere, it’s hard to know whether they are taking the prank too seriously or if it does indeed imply worrying occurrences within the school. Add in the presence of strangers in the form of new pupils and new staff, and before long even the most long-held relationships begin to suffer as a result of all the suspicions that are brought out by the prank.