The Wildelings
A Novel
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- $17.99
Publisher Description
Named one of the best books of spring by Harper’s BAZAAR and one of the best of the year by The Economist!
A vivid and compulsive story of obsession, control and guilt, set in Nineties Dublin – perfect for fans of dark academia and Donna Tartt’s The Secret History
Jessica and Linda have been best friends since the first day of school. Both girls are from very different broken homes – and beautiful, wilful Jessica has always ensured their survival. Now eighteen, the two have come to Wilde – an elite university in the heart of Dublin, far away from their troubled childhoods. Jessica thrives immediately, and, with the faithful Linda at her side, finds herself at the heart of a new circle of friends.
But then Mark enters the picture. A philosophy student a few years older than them, he has strange and compelling ideas about self-discovery. When Linda and Mark start dating, Jessica is disturbed by the change in her friend – and how quickly she seems to have fallen under the charismatic man’s control.
It turns out that Mark’s influence is not limited to Linda alone; and Jessica soon finds out that her whole group of friends are keeping secrets for him…and it will culminate in ways that will change their lives forever. Years later, Jessica is still grappling with her guilt over what happened at Wilde. And when Mark resurfaces to write his version of events, she knows she owes it to herself – and Linda – to set the record straight once and for all.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In the striking latest from Harding (Bright Burning Things), two lifelong friends are torn apart by a mercurial philosophy student at their university. In a frame narrative, 40-something Jessica McSwain tells her therapist about what happened decades earlier, after she enrolled at the pretentious and artistic Wilde College, where she persuaded her childhood friend Linda to join her. At school, Jessica finds herself entangled in an explosive romance with her classmate Jacques, and they soon become the most popular couple on campus. Linda, shy and insecure, grew up in glamorous Jessica's shadow, and when she meets fourth-year philosophy student Mark, he pushes her to become a more direct and open-minded version of herself. Mark also antagonizes Jessica, humiliating the aspiring actor by casting her in a play he directs about a conniving woman. After Mark encourages Jacques, Jessica, and Linda to use unspecified drugs at a party, the group is impacted in a way that continues to have repercussions decades later. Some plot elements are frustratingly unresolved after a late climax, but Harding mostly makes up for it by crafting complex characters and exploring the messy contours of a female friendships. It's a bracing tale.
