The Faculty Lounge: A Novel

by Jennifer Mathieu

**An instant National Bestseller!** 

A July 2024 LibraryReads Pick! 

By the acclaimed author of Moxie, a funny, bighearted adult debut that is at once an ode to educators, a timely glimpse at today’s pressing school issues, and a tender character study, following a sprawling cast of teachers, administrators, and staff at a Texas high school

With its ensemble of warm and unforgettable characters, The Faculty Lounge shows readers a different side of school life. It all starts when an elderly substitute teacher at Baldwin High School is found dead in the faculty lounge. After a bit of a stir, life quickly returns to normal—it’s not like it’s the worst (or even most interesting) thing that has happened within the building’s walls. But when, a week later, the spontaneous scattering of his ashes on the school grounds catches the attention of some busybody parents, it sets in motion a year that can only be described as wild, bizarre, tragic, mundane, beautiful, and humorous all at once.

In the midst of the ensuing hysteria and threats of disciplinary action, the novel peeks into the lives of the implicated adults who, it turns out, actually have first names and continue to exist when the school day is done. We meet: a former punk band front man, now a middle-aged principal who must battle it out with the schoolboard to keep his job; a no-nonsense school nurse willing to break the rules, despite the close watch on their campus, when a student arrives at her office with a dilemma; and a disgruntled English instructor who finds himself embroiled in even more controversy when he misfires a snarky email. Oh, and there’s also a teacher make-out session in a supply closet during a lockdown.

As these people continue to manage the messiness of this school year, there is the looming threat of what will become of their beloved Baldwin High. Ultimately, at the heart of this unconventional workplace novel is a story of the power of human connection and of the joy of finding purpose in what it is we do every day.

• ISBN10: 0593475399
• ISBN13: 9780593475393
• Publish Date: 23 July 2024
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
• Imprint: Dutton
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 304
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780593475393

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

The Faculty Lounge is a compassionately written slice of life novel by Jennifer Mathieu. Released 23rd July, 2024 by Penguin Random House on their Dutton imprint, it's 304 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links.

Warmly written "comfort reading", set around a fictive (but realistically rendered) high school in Texas and the staff who call it home, it's got good bones and the author makes good use of the vignette format to interweave the stories of the large cast of characters. 

After the death of a retired elderly substitute teacher on a sofa in the school faculty lounge, the story radiates outward in ripples, tracing the interconnections between the late Mr. Lehrer (10th grade English) and his colleagues, former students, and others... and with the connections between the characters themselves. 

Four stars. It would be a good low stress choice for a book club discussion, for public library acquisition, or for home use. 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.