The Groves of Academe

The Groves of Academe
First edition
AuthorMary McCarthy
LanguageEnglish
PublisherHarcourt, Brace
Publication date
1952
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint
Pages302

The Groves of Academe is a 1952 novel written by American writer Mary McCarthy.[1]

It concerns the sequence of events that takes place after Henry Mulcahy, a literary instructor at the fictitious Jocelyn College, learns that his teaching appointment will not be renewed. The novel is intended as a satire of academics based on the author's teaching experiences at Bard and Sarah Lawrence Colleges. The book is prefaced by a quote from Horace's Epistles, Atque inter silvas academi quaerere verum, which translates from the Latin as "And seek for truth in the groves of Academus." The book's first chapter, "An Unexpected Letter," originally appeared in The New Yorker.[citation needed]

The work is written in the third person, omniscient narrative mode and begins from Henry Mulcahy's perspective, but later focuses on the perspectives of the other faculty members, particularly Domna Rejnev.

  1. ^ Morris, Alice (24 February 1952). "When Suspicion Fell on the Impossible Mulcahy". The New York Times On The Web. Archived from the original on 24 February 2022. Retrieved 14 November 2023.