The Belles
A Novel
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3.5 • 4 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
In this richly atmospheric, dark academia debut novel, a young woman with a secretive past will risk everything—including her life—to fit in.
Belles never tell…
It’s 1951 at Bellerton, a secluded all-women’s college, and Deena Williams is doing her best to blend in with her wealthy and perfectly groomed peers. Notorious for its strict rules as much as its prestige, Bellerton could give Deena the affluent life she’s only dreamed of.
She quickly forms an alliance with the five other freshmen on her floor, and soon they are singled out by the president’s wife as the most promising girls of their class. She anoints them: The Belles. They walk the college’s halls in unison, matching velvet ribbons in their hair. But no sisterhood comes without secrets, and the Belles are no exception. Playing cruel pranks on their dormitory housemother and embarking on boundary-shattering night games, the Belles test the limits of the campus rules.
But as Deena beigns to piece together the sinister history of Bellerton, her own past threatens to come to light, forcing her to make a dangerous choice. A chilling and seductive coming-of-age story, The Belles is an excavation of the dark side of girlhood, the intricacies of privilege, and the unbridled desire to belong at any cost.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Keeping secrets carries consequences in Dunham's moody 1951-set debut. Now that her grandmother is dead, only Deena Williams knows what skullduggery it took to secure her attendance at Bellerton, a prestigious all-female college in Virginia. Deena—a working-class orphan hiding her origins—fears she'll have trouble fitting in among her privileged peers. Then she lands a room in South Hall dormitory alongside fellow freshman Ada May Delacourt, an influential descendant of Bellerton's founder. Deena, Ada May, and the four other freshman in South Hall swiftly form an exclusive clique dubbed the Belles. As they begin flouting the school's strict rules, the thrill of forbidden pranks and sneak-outs strengthens the group's bond. Soon, though, cracks begin to show in Deena's fake backstory—but rather than coming clean, she doubles down, determined to remain a Belle no matter the cost. Though a lengthy setup slows the book's momentum, sporadic chapters spotlighting a macabre discovery on campus in 2002 hint at impending fireworks. Several characters are broadly sketched, which undercuts the tale's verisimilitude, but Deena's desperation and mounting anxiety are palpable enough to keep readers invested in her fate. Fans of dark academia will find much to savor.
