The Divines
A razor-sharp, perfectly twisted debut
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4.5 • 2 Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
Set in the final days before a shocking tragedy forces an elite boarding school to shut its doors for good, Ellie Eaton's The Divines is a razor-sharp debut that asks the question: were you really as good as you remember?
I am Divine.
My mother was Divine and her mother before that, which isn't uncommon.
Although that was at a time when being Divine meant something . . .
The girls of elite English boarding school, St. John the Divine, were notorious for flipping their hair, harassing teachers, chasing boys and chain-smoking cigarettes. They were fiercely loyal, sharp-tongued, and cutting in the way that only teenage girls can be. But for Josephine, now in her thirties, her time at St. John feels like a lifetime ago. She hasn't spoken to another Divine in fifteen years, not since the day the school shut its doors in disgrace . . .
But an impromptu visit reawakens blurry recollections of those doomed final weeks that rocked the community. With each memory that resurfaces, she circles closer to the ugly secret at the heart of the school's scandal. But the more Josephine recalls, the further her life unravels, derailing not just her marriage and career, but her entire sense of self.
With the emotional power of My Dark Vanessa and the reflective haze of The Girls, The Divines is a compulsive debut exploring the intoxicating, destructive relationships between teenage girls.
'A cool, chilling and elegant novel' Sarah Perry, author of The Essex Serpent
'Perfectly twisted . . . Impossible to put down' Refinery29
'Captivating' Vulture
'An explosive debut' Stylist
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Eaton's intelligent debut follows freelance writer Josephine as she reflects on her past as a bully at a now-defunct all-girls English boarding school. In flashbacks to the mid-1990s, it's revealed that Josephine's lower-class roommate, Gerry Lake, suffered a fall from their dorm window that threatened her figure-skating career and led to a scandal that forced the school to close. Before the fall, Gerry had long been bullied by a group of classmates led by Josephine's frosty best friend, Skipper. Insecure and lonely, Josephine befriends Lauren McKibbin (whose older brother, Stuart, handles maintenance for the school), despite a prohibition on socializing with "townies." As the girls grow closer, Josephine develops a crush on Stuart and tries to retain the good graces of her old crew by joining in on their bullying of Gerry, even after Gerry helps her deal with an upsetting incident involving Stuart. The book winds down on a satisfying note as a school reunion and Josephine's travel for an assignment lead her to catch up with key characters and confront some unflattering things about herself. Eaton does a good job describing class tension and the misery of trying to fit into a social clique as a teenager. Josephine's steady unraveling of her teenage dramas will keep readers riveted.
