When bachelor Tom Thorne is appointed as Headmaster of a West London Prep School he has to contend with pushy parents and eccentric and rebellious teachers. Add in School Inspectors, Governors and dubious rugby referees and Tom soon realises that he will really have to be on his toes to survive. Close encounters with single mum Anita in the school darkroom – and elsewhere – develop. Will he be able to move the school forwards? Then Tom is appointed Head of a school in Nairobi, Kenya where there are very different problems – angry hippos, lions on the games fields, leopards in the garden and snakes in the art room. The beauty, poverty and danger of Africa are brought to life in this enthralling tale.