Havoc
a blistering tragicomedy from the author of I'm Sorry You Feel That Way
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- 8,99 €
Publisher Description
'Superb. Brilliantly funny, at times extremely poignant' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review
'Another beautifully written book by Rebecca' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review
'Utterly glorious, moving, enthralling and witty. I am so cross I have finished it' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review
'I absolutely loved the humour in this book. Bonus points for the Cold War references' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review
'Entertaining and humorous' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review
Fleeing Scotland in the wake of family disgrace, 16-year-old Ida Campbell secures a scholarship at a failing girls' boarding school on a remote part of the south English coast. Despite the eccentricities of her new Headmistress, who warns her of the dangers of the Cold War and the ever-present threat of the bomb, St Anne's seems like a refuge to Ida. But all this is about to change. For a start, her new room-mate is the infamous Louise Adler, potential arsonist and hardened outcast.
Meanwhile, the geography teacher Eleanor Alston, in her late thirties, a disastrous love affair in her wake, faces the new term with weary resignation. But the fragile ecosystem of the school is disrupted by the arrival of a new teacher, Matthew Langfield. Eleanor has an uneasy feeling he is not who he says he is.
And things only get worse when a mysterious sickness starts to spread throughout the school, causing strange limb jerks and seizures among the pupils. What is happening to the girls of St Anne's? Could there be a poisoner among them? Is Ida's scholarship really an escape, or is it instead a new nightmare?
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Rebecca Wait’s touching and funny 2022 novel I’m Sorry You Feel That Way received widespread acclaim, and Havoc, its follow-up, more than meets the high expectations it set. Set in an English all-girls’ boarding school in the 1980s, with the threat of nuclear war ever-present, it follows new pupil Ida as she seeks refuge after being embroiled in a scandal. But as one pupil after another becomes afflicted with strange, involuntary movements, the cause of which remain elusive, could something sinister be happening—or is it a case of mass psychogenic illness? A witty, gothic-tinged exploration of the tortures, as well as the life-saving friendships, of female adolescence, Havoc is packed with unforgettably eccentric characters and emotional insight. It confirms Wait as an author whose work can’t be missed.
