Told through the alternating viewpoints of four individuals, The Coming Storm centers around a traditional upper-class boys' school in upstate New York. Louis Tremper, the headmaster at the Forge School, his wife, Claire, Tracy Parker, a twenty-five-year-old gay man recently hired to teach at the school, and Noah Lathrop III, a troubled fifteen-year-old student--each character must struggle with inner demons, desires, and conflicting loyalties. As their lives move to a crisis point, dark episodes from the school's past collide with the current, growing confusion that reigns when Tracy and Noah get entangled in an illicit relationship.
Widely praised and acclaimed by readers and critics alike for his earlier novels, Paul Russell has created a brilliant and compelling story. The Coming Storm is his finest and most poignant work to date.