The cover is a little misleading; this is far from fluffy chick-lit. It's set in an all-women's college in Cambridge, where they have just appointed a man, James Rycarte, as 'Master'. He's not even a Cambridge graduate, but an ex BBC journalist. Some of the staff opposed the appointment, and he quickly comes up against Ros, an outspoken feminist with strong principles.

Although much of the book is written from James' perspective, the most interesting character from my point of view was the Senior Tutor, Martha Pearce. She's a warm-hearted, hard-working woman who learns to respect and like James despite not having initially approved of his appointment herself. Martha is the main breadwinner in her family, supporting her poet husband and their depressed and unemployed teenage daughter Lucia.

The story centres around the women's college, featuring some important issues such as the difficulty of encouraging students from all walks of life, and the morality of accepting a hefty donation from a potential parent. There are humorous moments, low-key romance, and overall a wonderful, warm and encouraging novel. Wonderful. I'd have given it four and a half stars if I could. ( )

James is appointed the first male head of an all-women Cambridge College and faces both personal enmity and various professional and academic headaches. The other main character is Martha, the Senior Tutor, who has a waste of space husband (whom she still loves for reasons that escaped me) and a depressed daughter.

I found this hard-going: the countless descriptions of the college by-laws, unwritten rules and intrigues were wearying. Martha was very saintly and put up with too much. I skimmed most of it. ( )

I don't think I can an add much to the excellent reviews of this book that are already posted here, except to make a few comments inspired by a couple of them. First, I agree that the book is done a disservice by it's rather fluffy, chick-lit style cover design. This is not to denigrate in any way the skill or talent of the designer, simply to suggest that the style creates the wrong impression about the contents. This is not a heavy novel, but nor is it a frivolous one. I do not normally feel embarrassed to be seen on the train reading books that are regarded as primarily being for women readers, but this one did give me a few minor qualms. I probably would never have picked it up had I not already enjoyed Thornton's more recent novel 'Crossed Wires', which I think I came across on someone's blog. This is a pity because I think H&M would have a wider appeal that the cover suggests, particularly amongst those who like university novels or stories about the inner workings of small communities.

I agree that anyone who appreciated C.P. Snow's 'The Master' would probably like this one. I think I would go so far as to say that 'Hearts and Minds' actually has the edge over Snow, it has a little more sparkle than its predecessor. Snow's novel reads like the work of an academic who doesn't want to let his hair down too much, whereas Thornton seems to have no fear that writing in a lively modern style might in any way detract from her reputation as a scholar. ( )

The British campus novel is generally a cosy thing (unless there’s a murder involved). Often they can be rather claustrophobic too, peopled with backbiting dons, scheming students, and inscrutable college servants, which give opportunities for creating high comedy – naturally I’m thinking David Lodge here, and the funniest of all, Porterhouse Blue by Tom Sharpe.
This makes Rosy Thornton’s second novel ‘Hearts and Minds’ a rarity. Despite the cover, this is not chick-lit, it is much more of a drama in the Joanna Trollope mould. While it has cosy elements, it is also a mature novel primarily about juggling relationships – between academic and administrative staff, between the dons themselves and their families, between students, and students and staff, and, importantly to the plot, old friends who might become benefactors ... You can find them all here under the umbrella of St Radegund’s – a women only Cambridge college in need of some money, and which has just appointed an ex-BBC reporter as their first ‘Master’.
First we meet Dr Martha Pearce – the Senior Tutor, totally loyal to the college and its students. Martha works long and hard, to the detriment of her relationship with her family – her workshy poet husband and clinically depressed drop-out daughter, but there is no-one who better understands the student mind when a rent strike is threatened. Martha is world-weary and worried about her future – her research has stalled and her tutor’s appointment is due to end. Martha represents all that is good about St Rad’s, unlike her backstabbing colleague Ros, and the blinkered Bursar Kate.
When James Rycarte arrives – he’s an outsider in every sense. He’s from the media world, not the halls of academe, and he’s the first male to manage the college. He gets a frosty reception from many but not from Martha. Soon it appears that he might be the college’s saviour – an old friend from Italy pledges enough money to repair the library and endow several bursaries. Then Luigi drops his bombshell that the money is dependent on his daughter Paola coming to study at St Rad’s, and a political bag of worms big enough to fill in the subsiding library foundations is released, setting up many conflicts that will take the rest of the novel’s 425+ pages to resolve.
You don’t need to have gone to Oxbridge to enjoy this college life. The fictional confines of St Rad’s mean that the city itself doesn’t have a large part to play, but it is easy to sympathise with Martha and James who are fully rounded characters with difficult decisions to make.
I should declare that I was sent this copy by the author, who I’ve not met, but she sounds thoroughly nice and is a Cambridge don so knows what she’s writing about! This was a very enjoyable novel, and I have no trouble in recommending it. ( )

This is a behind the scenes tale of life and politics at St Radegund's College at Cambridge University. For 60 years it’s for been women only but this tale starts with a man getting appointed as Head of House. Judging by the cover and the blurb I thought I was in for a light read with a sprinkling of romance but was pleased to discover it was far more than that. There are several underlying plots that could have stood alone as stories themselves. For instance, we meet Martha, who’s married to an unemployed poet, and her depressed 17-year-old daughter. Their family life fascinated me and I would have loved to hear more about them. Then there’s the ethical question that gets raised about admissions to the college. This starts when a rich father offers the college a million pounds in return for his daughter getting offered a place there. I found it fascinating to read about how the dilemma got solved. My only criticism is not a fault of the author’s but the cover art really is all wrong. It makes the book look like chick lit which may just put some readers off from even taking it off the shelves, which would be a real shame as they would be missing out on a great read. ( )