In High Places

For the Mike Oldfield song, see In High Places (song). For the Harry Turtledove novel, see In High Places (Turtledove).

In High Places is a 1960 novel written by Arthur Hailey, a writer known for his success in writing English-language bestsellers. This novel's plot follows the professional career of a Prime Minister of Canada, James McCallum Howden, who faces various challenges of governance relating to both: (a) foreign policy during the Cold War, and (b) domestic issues, such as immigration reform.

Plot summary

The novel is set during a fictional crisis of the Cold War. The characters are presented as attempting to lead Canada as it faces the imminent threat of thermonuclear war.

James McCallum Howden is portrayed as Canada's Prime Minister, the leader of an unnamed party. The Howden government possesses a rocky, unstable majority in Canada's Parliament. Howden's political struggles are shown in counterpoint with the mingled strength and troubled feelings that he gets from his marriage. He and his wife Margaret are depicted as having a pleasant, passionless relationship, with the politician troubled by guilt over the memories of a past extramarital affair with his assistant, Milly. Despite this misstep, Howden is portrayed as a sympathetic character.

Three high-ranking aides and political allies of Howden are also followed through their work, Arthur Lexington, Stuart Cawston, and Brian Richardson. Lexington and Cawston fight to protect their chief and his political position as Canada moves closer to what the novel depicts as the greatest crisis in its national history.

During the course of the novel, it becomes increasingly clear that Howden's premiership is gravely threatened by the consequences of an amoral political pact that Howden was forced to make with an erstwhile ally in order to gain the party leadership. The deteriorating relationship between Howden and this former ally forms one of the key plot movements of the novel.