Miss Webster and Chérif

Miss Webster and Chérif is a novel by Patricia Duncker first published in 2006 about a fearless British woman living in the countryside who radically changes her life when she is already approaching 70 and after she has been an old age pensioner for several years. A former teacher of French, her routine life is first disturbed by a bout of severe illness and subsequently, after a trip to North Africa, by her taking in a lodger, who she assumes is the son of a female Arab hotel manager she met during her stay in Morocco. For the first time since her retirement, Miss Webster, an old spinster, feels the call of duty when she realizes it is up to her to stand up for her charge and defend him against British racism and the consequences of the 9/11 craze.