In The Last Enchantments, an engaging contemporary novel about a young American man coming of age at Oxford, Charles Finch departs from his usual historical mysteries (A Beautiful Blue Death, etc.). Twenty-five-year-old Will Baker has an enviable life: a career in politics he enjoys, a wealthy and sympathetic girlfriend and a glamorous lifestyle in New York City. Despite having what most Americans would equate to success, however, Will is restless and wants a change.
The years of his life Will recalls most fondly are those spent earning an undergraduate degree at Yale; on that basis, he applies to Oxford to study English literature. In the course of the novel, and primarily via the intense romance and friendships he experiences at Oxford, Will grapples with the consequences of his privileged upbringing and begins, painfully, to arrive at the truth about himself.
While relationships and coming to terms with adulthood are the focus of The Last Enchantments, it is also especially evocative of Oxford. Readers who are curious about Oxford parties, sports--particularly punting, which forms the backdrop for many social situations--and classes will find much to satisfy them. Above all, however, Will's story is about the space that perpetually separates the interim pleasures of college and the vagaries of adult life--and it is within that space that he must ultimately find some semblance of peace. --Ilana Teitelbaum, book reviewer at the Huffington Post