'Would this loathsome creature which had poisoned his past and was now infecting the present leave its slimy traces on his future?'

Disappointing academic results, an unfortunate first love and a negative first job experience all go to make Michael Morgan deeply disillusioned with the path his life has taken. He decides to train to be a French teacher. But at home the atmosphere is vitiated, his work becomes tedious, and his disastrous management of relations with two female colleagues leads to disturbing repercussions. And then tragedy strikes. He longs to wipe the slate of his past and present life clean by making a fresh start in France. And then he's given the chance to immerse himself in anexciting venture. Should he stay in England or pursue his French dream? But is it himself he's running away from?

The first novel in the trilogy, Call of France, Barfield School is a dramatized portrayal of some of the things which led the author to start a new life in a country he's always felt an irresistible attraction for.