The Universal Register

Book Ten

Senior Year

2030 to 2031

A photograph of a village cricket match on a summer evening, seen from far across the field: players in white, a small white pavilion and a scoreboard, an old stone church with a square tower beside the ground, wooded hills beyond under a pink and gold sky, and a small rough-coated terrier running across the outfield. Crown on the Potomac Senior Year Book Ten 2030 to 2031

August 2030. Mr Abernathy's homeroom, all thirty-one of them, flies to England for a year at Coln Abbey School, in a valley in the Cotswolds, where the English call the King Fred, the bus into Cirencester is never on time, and a woman of ninety-nine on the churchyard wall has opinions about every King since the one who asked her the way to Bibury.

Senior Year follows him through a State Opening with a heavier crown, a Christmas in the snow, a donkey's head in a tithe barn, a cheese down a hill and a cricket match on the green, to a leaving day, a flight home, a graduation, and a Monday on which nothing happens.

Each chapter opens with a short extract from the Universal Register, the encyclopedia of the world the book is set in. The extracts are quoted from the Register as it stands; the chapters show what happened in the rooms it was not in.

Begin reading: Chapter One, Speedbird → Characters

Part One: Michaelmas (29 August to 20 December 2030)

  1. 1 Speedbird Frederick. Published 2 November 2026.
  2. 2 The Wold Frederick. Published 2 November 2026.
  3. 3 Windrush Frederick. Published 2 November 2026.
  4. 4 The Footpath Frederick. Published 2 November 2026.
  5. 5 Prep Frederick. Published 2 November 2026.
  6. 6 Paddington Frederick. Published 2 November 2026.
  7. 7 Where Is the King? Frederick. Published 2 November 2026.
  8. 8 The New Inn Frederick. Published 2 November 2026.
  9. 9 Stirling Frederick. Published 2 November 2026.
  10. 10 Bonfire Night Frederick. Published 2 November 2026.
  11. 11 Westminster Frederick. Published 2 November 2026.
  12. 12 Remembrance Frederick. Published 2 November 2026.

Part Two: Advent and Lent (December 2030 to March 2031)

  1. 13 Auditions Frederick. Published 2 November 2026.
  2. 14 Christmas on the Wold Frederick. Published 2 November 2026.
  3. 15 Boxing Day Frederick. Published 2 November 2026.
  4. 16 Snow Day Frederick. Published 2 November 2026.
  5. 17 Stockholm Frederick. Published 2 November 2026.
  6. 18 Half-Term Frederick. Published 2 November 2026.
  7. 19 Lambing Frederick. Published 2 November 2026.
  8. 20 The London House Frederick. Published 2 November 2026.
  9. 21 Rehearsal Frederick. Published 2 November 2026.
  10. 22 Moreton-in-Marsh Frederick. Published 2 November 2026.
  11. 23 Pyramus and Thisbe Frederick. Published 2 November 2026.
  12. 24 Inés Frederick. Published 2 November 2026.

Part Three: Trinity (April to May 2031)

  1. 25 Maundy Frederick. Published 2 November 2026.
  2. 26 Winchester Frederick. Published 2 November 2026.
  3. 27 Eighteen Frederick. Published 2 November 2026.
  4. 28 The Fête Frederick. Published 2 November 2026.
  5. 29 Confidence Frederick. Published 2 November 2026.
  6. 30 Kimura Frederick. Published 2 November 2026.
  7. 31 The Green Frederick. Published 2 November 2026.
  8. 32 Jack Frederick. Published 2 November 2026.

Part Four: Home (June 2031)

  1. 33 Leaving Day Frederick. Published 2 November 2026.
  2. 34 Sceptre West Frederick. Published 2 November 2026.
  3. 35 Graduation Frederick. Published 2 November 2026.
  4. 36 Monday Frederick. Published 2 November 2026.