‘Lucien by J. R. Thornton’.

Published by Magpie Books,
19 March 2026.
ISBN: 978-1-83643-257-9 (PB)

Christopher Novotny’s father died when he was two and his mother raised him in relatively poor circumstances.  However, he had a particular aptitude for art, spending much of his childhood drawing and painting and, by the age of 10, he had won a city-wide competition despite being underage.  He was disqualified but one of the judges, Marcus, who took an interest in him and, over the next 5 years, his progress.  Then Marcus got a job at Harvard and with his assistance Christopher was able to take a place there.

Christopher arrives at Harvard and meets his room-mate, Lucien Orsini-Conti, already a member of this world of privilege.  Lucien, for reasons which are not apparent, includes the slightly-bewildered Christopher in his group, renaming him Atlas.  Atlas is drawn into a world of parties, the urgency of belonging to the right clubs, and very, very wealthy new ‘friends’.  Atlas, unsurprisingly, finds this way of life very expensive and, indeed, finds it difficult to keep up with his college work as well.  Lucien comes up with a solution that relies on Atlas’s artistic skills.  Although Atlas is not keen, he finds it difficult to stand up to Lucien and honestly, a bit of him is interested – he is of course a talented artist and a bit of him might wonder if he could really pull the scheme off.

This is a well-told story that holds the interest.  It feels familiar – a variation on the coming of age novel.  The central friendship is based on the charismatic Lucien, who is at once attractive and slightly sinister.  He’s well-established at Harvard, but what does anyone really know about him?  The story does provide one more twist for Christopher as it reaches its somewhat melancholic end.
------
Reviewer: Jo Hesslewood
Other books by this author:  Beautiful Country

J. R. Thornton was born in London. He graduated from Harvard College in 2014 where he studied history, English, and Chinese. An internationally ranked junior tennis player, he competed for Harvard and on the professional circuit. He was a member of the inaugural class of Schwarzman Scholars, obtaining an M.A. from Tsinghua University in Beijing. He now lives in Italy, working for AC Milan. Lucien is his second novel.

Jo Hesslewood.  Crime fiction has been my favourite reading material since as a teenager I first spotted Agatha Christie on the library bookshelves.  For twenty-five years the commute to and from London provided plenty of reading time.  I am fortunate to live in Cambridge, where my local crime fiction book club, Crimecrackers, meets at Heffers Bookshop .  I enjoy attending crime fiction events and currently organise events for the Margery Allingham Society.