Ellie Eaton

I get it: we all learn from our past and hope to make amends from mistakes when it's possible. That's what this book was about which focused on a woman reflecting on her school days. Slow going with the first half of the book about a wealthy girls group called "the divines" that feels superior over the workers of her town - the "townies." The last half was better as the plot started to come together. But the end was my favorite as the drama was finally over.

Josephine shares her secret past with her handsome husband for the first time on their honeymoon. Then she keeps drifting back wondering what happened to the people of her school since she moved away. She returns to her school to find answers about her past friends and those she picked on.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read this advanced copy.
… (mais)

Josephine is one of the Divines, girls attending an expensive boarding school in England. In her fifth year, however, things go badly wrong, beginning with her sharing a room with an unpopular girl, which jeopardizes her social standing and ending in mayhem and tragedy. Going back and forth between this pivotal year and Josephine as a married adult, Ellie Eaton tells the story of what happens when over-privileged girls are kept together with too little supervision and what happens when a girl who has always been a follower is put in a position where her values are tested.

I'm a sucker for a school story, especially one set it such a different world, but this one ultimately pulled its punches in ways that left me dissatisfied. I did like how Josephine was passive in her own story, how she was unable to parse the motivations of others, or even understand herself. Feeling left out of her friend group had her willing to make friends with a townie, a girl who both encourages Josephine to take a new look at her privileged life and who has her own motivations for hanging out with her. Josephine as an adult is not that different from Josephine as a teenager. She's contemptuous of her previous life, but also fascinated and eager to find out what happened to her former schoolmates.… (mais)

Sephine has escaped from her background - newly married to sculptor and working as a freelance journalist, she lives a bohemian life. Twenty years ago though Josephine was a member of the fifth form at an elite girls' boarding school, St John the Divine. These Divines were rude, arrogant and entitled but Josephine broke the mould by mixing with a 'Townie' until a scandal engulfed the school and it shut.
Josephine is not really likeable at any point in this book and is incredibly self-centred which I found irritating. However, I loved the premise of the poor working-class town dependent on the elite school for its economy whilst loathing the students. There's also an insight into the whole 'old boys club' idea. Certain sections were very long-winded, I found myself more interested in the school memories than pretentious modern day bohemian living, but I did stay engrossed to the end… (mais)