Lords of Serendipity

Un roman de campus épique sur les espoirs et les hypocrisies de l'enseignement supérieur du 21e siècle, par l'un des romanciers littéraires les plus célèbres du Canada. 

Devi est une jeune fille d'un village sri-lankais qui rêve d'aller à Harvard. Katrina est une jeune fille américaine de la classe moyenne dont la vie a été conçue pour qu'elle intègre un collège d'arts libéraux d'élite. Le père de Devi nettoie des toilettes dans un hôtel cinq étoiles pour payer le tuteur indien de sa fille, qui n'est peut-être pas l'étudiant d'Oxford qu'il prétend être sur WhatsApp. Le père de Katrina donne des cours supplémentaires dans une université technique médiocre pour payer les expériences de vie académique de sa fille. Pendant ce temps, son assistant d'enseignement, un « tech-bro », extorque habilement de l'argent à des étudiants internationaux inquiets d'échouer et d'être expulsés.

Set between contemporary Sri Lanka and the United States, Lords of Serendipity is a wry, moving, and sharply observed story about how rich and poor alike try to get ahead by going to university. It’s about dreams and ambition meeting corruption and hypocrisy. It’s about what parents are willing to do for their children, and about what strivers and hustlers are willing to do when they meet gatekeepers.

Voici le roman de campus mondial du 21e siècle, une histoire sur deux adolescentes de mondes opposés avec le même rêve : quatre ans dans un paradis en forme de quadrilatère qui offre de nombreux cours incroyables et des manifestations incroyables. Le roman ne pourrait pas être plus opportun dans ce moment absurde et périlleux pour la vie américaine et l'enseignement supérieur.

Louanges et critiques

Named a Best Book of Fall 2026 by Oprah Daily and People

“Ambitious…It’s the kind of no-holds-barred book only a consummate insider would know to write—but only one who is also conveniently outside the American university system could get away with writing. . . . An old-fashioned Dickensian tale, it sweeps across continents and campuses.”
—Pamela Paul, The Wall Street Journal

“A darkly funny, continent-hopping satire with a sharp eye on the bottom line.” 
–People

“This clever, continent-hopping read expands the frame of the classic campus novel to include the often-invisible characters behind a university education: the parents. . . . Boyagoda’s mordant satire of academia and its costs is also a touching tribute to what parents will do for their children.” 
–Oprah Daily

“It’s hard to miss the parallels between this novel and the social satires of Victorian-era novelist Anthony Trollope… A smart cautionary tale about the perils of ambition.”
–BookPage

“Dazzling…The way Boyagoda develops and connects these characters is as compelling as it is seamless, merrily leading readers to the cynical revelations at its core. Working with many of the same themes as Min Jin Lee in American Hagwon, Boyagoda is serious about the bond between parents and children, bringing his satire’s plot to an unexpected and satisfying close with a climactic scene… Richard Russo meets Mohsin Hamid in this knowing tale of academia and the lives of struggling South Asians.”
–Kirkus (starred review)

“Thoughtfully examines the lengths parents will go to see their children succeed, how ambition fuels hypocrisy, and what compels the rich and poor to seek elevation through education.”
—Booklist

 “Engrossing … Boyagoda offers a clear-eyed view into academia’s competition, corruption, and exploitation. This leaves readers with much to chew on.”  
—Publisher’s Weekly 

“A book that’s a feast, an occasion and a celebration. Randy Boyagoda delightfully skewers the industrial-academic complex but also creates moving characters who seem to have walked in from the dorm and faculty meeting next door. The result is as moving as it is hysterically funny.”
–Gary Shteyngart, New York Times bestselling author of Vera, or Faith

“Randy Boyagoda’s Lords of Serendipity is utterly fantastic and timely beyond belief. This is the campus novel we’ve all been waiting for: tender, eviscerating, perfect.”
–Junot Díaz, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

“This is a new kind of campus novel, a wicked but humane satire that envisions a global community of strivers, charlatans, jaded bureaucrats, and ethically challenged scholars whose lives and destinies keep intersecting in unexpected places with unpredictable outcomes. Randy Boyagoda is a wry and clear-eyed guide to this three-ring academic circus of careerism, venality, and stubborn hope for a better future.”
–Tom Perrotta, New York Times bestselling author of The Leftovers and Ghost Town

“Sparkling, humane, irresistible … As Randy Boyagoda celebrates (and subverts) the comedy of college, he offers what any good education should: a wide-ranging, free-thinking inquiry into life beyond the ivory tower.”
—Garth Risk Hallberg, author of City on Fire and The Second Coming

Interviews & Media

In this interview on The World of Higher Education Podcast, author and professor Randy Boyagoda discusses how Lords of Serendipity expands the traditional campus novel to examine the global higher education system, the urban legend that inspired the book, and the moral compromises within modern academia. Listen here →

On an episode of CBC Sunday Magazine, Randy Boyagoda discusses what it means to be part of a university today, the importance of productive disagreement, and the global nature of higher education. Listen here →

Randy Boyagoda discusses Lords of Serendipity, campus fiction, and higher education on the American Campus Podcast. Listen here →

In conversation with New York Times critic Parul Sehgal, Randy Boyagoda discusses what distinguishes the global campus novel from traditional campus fiction, the risks involved in writing one, and the absurd theatre of higher education in the twenty-first century. Watch here →

Randy Boyagoda discusses Lords of Serendipity, what goes in a name, and a lifetime in higher education in a new Q&A with Writer Interviews. Read here →

Boyagoda discusses Lords of Serendipity on CHCH Morning Live. Watch here → 

Emily Donaldson interviews Randy Boyagoda for The Globe and Mail, where Boyagoda speaks about how he became a novelist, irony and his Catholic sensibilities, and the joy he finds in university life. Read here →

Pamela Paul profiles Randy Boyagoda in The Wall Street Journal, where they discuss the inspiration behind Lords of Serendipity, Boyagoda’s teaching, the importance of the humanities, campus politics, and the financial and moral crises facing contemporary higher education. Read here →