The Bellwether Revivals, by Benjamin Wood, is a page-turning dark academia story, set in Cambridge. But our protag isn’t a genius or even a student, instead Oscar is an elder-care assistant in the city of Cambridge, who stumbles into the world of the Bellwether siblings and their student friends at Cambridge University. 

The novel opens when Oscar hears extraordinary music coming from King’s College Chapel. I felt like Oscar was just noticing beauty in his otherwise underwhelming life, but by stopping to listen, he’s almost immediately pulled into a different world. Iris and Eden Bellwether, and their friends, are not just supersmart Cambridge students, they have the family wealth and connections, and a shared collection of jokes and references from their boarding-school days. This works because I was also caught up in their Cambridge academia world, just like Oscar. Eden, though, believes he’s not just a gifted musician, but that music  — his music specifically — has healing power.

Of course, there’s the required beautiful girl, Iris, and the required whirlwind romance, too.

I actually read this one twice. I got it from the library,  loved it, and then decided I enjoyed it so much that I wanted to own it, and when the book finally arrived, I wanted to read it again.  In the interim, I read The Academy, which had a lot to enjoy, but also had a few awkward moments of a wealthy person’s idea of what it must be like to be poor at a boarding school. So on the second read, of The Bellwether Revivals, I particularly noticed how legit and believable Oscar’s work life was.  It’s not a comically-awful job at all, working as a care assistant is never set up as a penance, but his scheduled shifts and physical responsibilities keep highlighting a different world from the lives of the student friends. Plus, it works with the themes. Oscar’s job is helping the elderly maintain some dignity and comfort, while Eden is sure that he controls life and health.

I also noticed how well the novel sets up the tragedy from the start. Eden’s undoubted talents and his belief that normal rules don’t apply to him are clear from their first meeting, and that bleeds over into his belief in his supernatural talents. We readers, along with Oscar, are pulled into this, and the world of charismatic, talented, privileged friends.  And, yeah, the rules of rent and work that apply to Oscar’s life simply don’t apply to the Bellwether siblings, or their friends.

The tragic ending is clear pretty early on, not exactly the details of the book’s ending, but the fact that Eden’s belief in his powers can not end well. This creates almost a Greek tragedy atmosphere, that Eden’s downfall is inevitable, and clear to the audience.  

The Bellwether Revivals novel is often compared with The Secret History, and it’s clear why. There’s a tight circle of intellectual elites, with their charismatic leader and the knowledge that ordinary rules don’t apply to the circle.  The two novels are similar enough that I watched the brother and sister in The Bellwether Revivals very carefully. You know why.

The Bellwether Revivals considers how genius, privilege and charisma, can fall into a delusion of invincibility, simply because he’s never had rules or consequences before. The book also explores how people see what they want to see. Towards the end, the book shifts from a dark academia atmosphere into a psychological thriller, with a disturbing and inevitable conclusion.