By Ed Meek

This is an entertaining comedy of manners, a sophisticated satire told from the point of view of a feminist professor who is not afraid of committing transgressions in our politically correct age.

Vladimir by Julia May Jonas. Avid Reader Press, 238 pages. $27.

Julia May Jonas begins her first novel with a setup that spotlights an updated version of a grown-up Lolita. The character claims that, as a child, she “loved old men.” Now an adult, she has made a colleague captive and tied him to a chair. His name is Vladimir. To find out how we have reached that point and what plans she has for Vladimir, we need to read two hundred more pages. The thing is, this is not a mystery. It is more of a comedy of manners, a sophisticated satire told from the point of view of a feminist professor who is not afraid of committing transgressions in our politically correct age. Like  Michael Chabon’s Wonder Boys, Richard Russo’s Straight Man, and Anne Bernays’  Professor Romeo, Vladimir  uses academia as the inspiration for sharp commentary about writing, sexuality, and male and female roles.

Although the main character is a feminist, she is very much caught up in our cultural biases about female beauty. She is obsessed with how she looks. She is in an open marriage. Her husband has had affairs with a number of his students — though it was years ago, when such actions were neither against college policy nor illegal. Now, a handful of those women have come out publicly against him in the spirit of the #me too movement. As a result, his job is in jeopardy and that puts his wife in a very difficult position. Here she is confronted by a group of her young women students.

“Well, we just wanted to say, like, you don’t have to, like, do the whole supportive silent wife thing.”

I breathed in, white-hot anger rushing up my forearms into my elbows.

Then Tabitha, in her mechanic’s jumpsuit, worn unbuttoned to the waist so that her bra was visible, stepped forward…

“It is totally unfair what he has done to us.”

“You?” I asked.

“Us women,” she said.

Jonas is really good at capturing the complexity of these generational differences. Our protagonist goes on to consider how careful she must be when answering these concerns. Professors today, unlike the days of yore when academic freedom reigned at college campuses, must be cautious about offending their clients, the students. Considerable trouble would be caused if they were triggered, or their safe spaces violated, or the wrong pronouns used. Tenured profs, if they want to keep their cushy positions, are pressured to keep students in their seats. Playing it safe,  the narrator thanks the young women profusely for their support and admits that she too may be a victim of her own internalized sexism.

Her husband is suspended while his position is under review. There will be a hearing. Our protagonist is under pressure to step away from her teaching because of the optics. Meanwhile, the college has hired a handsome young, newly successful writer, Vladmir, whom the older narrator, (she is 57) finds herself drawn to.  Vladimir nailed his job interview with the college when he confessed that his wife had recently attempted suicide. His genuine tears won the committee over. He does this knowing full well that his wife will be teaching part time at the school.

This kind of Ivory Tower realpolitik makes Vladimir fun to read. The author, who teaches at Skidmore College, appears to be a number of years younger than her narrator and sometimes there are misfires in terms of verisimilitude. When the narrator’s daughter shows up after a night of heavy drinking — which concluded with anonymous sex in a bus station — our protagonist’s reaction is to drink with her. She doesn’t suggest her daughter get tested or go to the police. Wouldn’t that sexual session be considered rape?

Worse, a plot that starts out as a tease with a little bondage moves onto sex and then develops into kidnapping and drugging. The wind-up to this escalation is a ridiculously over-the-top conclusion that lacks any credibility. Still, this is a debut novel, and most of it is very entertaining. The talented Julia May Jonas knows how to whip up and maintain an intriguing plot — now she needs to pull off the landing.

Ed Meek is the author of High Tide (poems) and Luck (short stories).