With echoes of Tom Sharpe and PG Wodehouse, The Pauline Conversion weaves drama, politics, satire, social justice, mystery and humour in a touching tale of reinvention, trust — and family.

Power cuts and platform heels. Picket lines and women's lib. The miners are striking, and the undergraduates are revolting. It's 1972, and revolution is in the Cambridge air.

In a changing city, St Paul's College is stuck in the past — and Dennis is stuck in a rut. Desperate for more than a dusty footnote in college history, he craves a legacy. He wants to have been somebody. All he's achieved so far is a ball chair dangling from his office ceiling.

When Dennis meets Red, a homeless teenager deserving better, he thinks he's found his cause. He'll sponsor Red, bring him into college, give him a new family, and secure his own legacy. But Red has a secret — and when it's revealed, Dennis's plans spiral out of control. Friends become foes, determined to stop him, and he must choose whether his loyalties lie with St Paul's — or with Red.

What is Red's secret? Who are Dennis's real enemies? And will Dennis crack open the gates to college, or will St Paul's come tumbling down?