445 p., Centers around two families, the Belseys and the Kippses. Howard Belsey, a Rembrandt scholar who doesn't like Rembrandt, is an Englishman abroad and a professor at a liberal New England arts college. Sir Monty Kipps, an Caribbean intellectual, delights in provoking liberals with his ultra-conservative views on homosexuality, affirmative action and so on. Sir Monty has written a popular appreciation of Rembrandt which Howard Belsey has denounced for its retrogressive stance. Belsey's elder son, who quests for black authenticity, falls in love with Sir Monty's daughter Vee. Moreover, Sir Monty is offered a visiting celebrity appointment at the very college at which Howard himself teaches.
