At St. Stephen's Academy, the students are on the verge of revolt. Morgan Wilberforce can't take it any longereverything he touches turns to disaster in his desperate attempts to fight off desire, boredom, and angst. He knocks himself unconscious tackling the unattainable Spaulding on the rugby pitch; his headmaster detests him for crimes committed years ago; even his closest friends subject him to tortures normally reserved for juniors.

When an accident at the boarding school leaves Wilberforce with more suffering than he could have imagined, he finds himself alone and adrift in this ritualistic world of men and boys narrowly confined by tradition and authority. An indelible portrait of a young man caught between lust and cruelty, grief and God, frustrated love and abject longing, Wilberforce is a tour de force, heralding the arrival of a brilliant novelist.