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Class Is In: 8 New Reads Set on Campus
From literary fiction and thrillers to romance, these new novels will indulge your back-to-school nostalgia / BY Athena McKenzie / September 19th, 2022
September often triggers back-to-school nostalgia. You might find yourself craving new stationary and fresh pens, or even browsing course catalogues at post-secondary institutions. An ideal way to indulge your yearning is to go back to school through books. From literary fiction and thrillers to romance, these novels will transport you to campus.
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1The World Cannot Give Drawing comparisons to Donna Tartt’s The Secret History — one of the most famous campus novels — The World Cannot Give follows Laura Stearns, a shy student starting at a prestigious boarding school in Maine called St. Dunstan’s Academy. When she joins the school choir, she falls under the spell of its charismatic leader, Virginia, and is drawn into a strange world of religion and rituals. The author, who received a doctorate in theology from Trinity College at Oxford, has said in interviews that St. Dunstan’s is drawn from her experiences at boarding school and the prestigious British university.
Drawing comparisons to Donna Tartt’s The Secret History — one of the most famous campus novels — The World Cannot Give follows Laura Stearns, a shy student starting at a prestigious boarding school in Maine called St. Dunstan’s Academy. When she joins the school choir, she falls under the spell of its charismatic leader, Virginia, and is drawn into a strange world of religion and rituals. The author, who received a doctorate in theology from Trinity College at Oxford, has said in interviews that St. Dunstan’s is drawn from her experiences at boarding school and the prestigious British university.
2Disorientation A PhD dissertation on a dead Chinese poet may seem an unlikely launching point for a campus-set satire, but the problems plaguing academia — racism, sexism and colonialism to name three — provide fertile ground. This Taiwanese American writer from California based her novel on a real controversy over cultural appropriation. In her book, Taiwanese American PhD student Ingrid Yang is desperate to finish her thesis on the fictional Xiao-Wen Chou, considered to be “the greatest Chinese-American poet.” A discovery in the poet’s archives threatens to derail Yang’s years of effort and invalidate Chou’s entire oeuvre.
A PhD dissertation on a dead Chinese poet may seem an unlikely launching point for a campus-set satire, but the problems plaguing academia — racism, sexism and colonialism to name three — provide fertile ground. This Taiwanese American writer from California based her novel on a real controversy over cultural appropriation. In her book, Taiwanese American PhD student Ingrid Yang is desperate to finish her thesis on the fictional Xiao-Wen Chou, considered to be “the greatest Chinese-American poet.” A discovery in the poet’s archives threatens to derail Yang’s years of effort and invalidate Chou’s entire oeuvre.
3Either/Or Readers who met Harvard freshman Selin in Elif Batuman’s Pulitzer-nominated work, The Idiot, will be excited to catch up with the Turkish-American student during her sophomore year in Either/Or. Like its predecessor, the novel takes us through Selin’s academic year and the summer after. Selin has a new outlook on life, with a new goal to become a novelist. Of course, as she discovers, there is no clear path. To give herself inspiration for a book, Selin begins to make decisions based on how she thinks a character in a novel might act. Batuman — a staff writer at the New Yorker since 2010, a Harvard alumni, and with a Ph.D. in comparative literature from Stanford University — admits to using elements from her own life to write Either/Or.
Readers who met Harvard freshman Selin in Elif Batuman’s Pulitzer-nominated work, The Idiot, will be excited to catch up with the Turkish-American student during her sophomore year in Either/Or. Like its predecessor, the novel takes us through Selin’s academic year and the summer after. Selin has a new outlook on life, with a new goal to become a novelist. Of course, as she discovers, there is no clear path. To give herself inspiration for a book, Selin begins to make decisions based on how she thinks a character in a novel might act. Batuman — a staff writer at the New Yorker since 2010, a Harvard alumni, and with a Ph.D. in comparative literature from Stanford University — admits to using elements from her own life to write Either/Or.
4Welcome to the School by the Sea As far as charming settings go, an English boarding school by the sea is pretty high on the list. This is the first book in a planned four-book series from the Scottish-born writer, who lives in London, where she also works as a stand-up comedian. Welcome to the School by the Sea centres on teacher Maggie Adair, who has left an inner-city school in Glasgow to teach English at an elite girls boarding school in Cornwall, England. Set over the course of one academic year, we experience the school through Maggie, the headmistress and two very different students — one eager to fit in and the other desperate to leave. The Scottish-born writer now lives in London, where she also works as a stand-up comedian.
As far as charming settings go, an English boarding school by the sea is pretty high on the list. This is the first book in a planned four-book series from the Scottish-born writer, who lives in London, where she also works as a stand-up comedian. Welcome to the School by the Sea centres on teacher Maggie Adair, who has left an inner-city school in Glasgow to teach English at an elite girls boarding school in Cornwall, England. Set over the course of one academic year, we experience the school through Maggie, the headmistress and two very different students — one eager to fit in and the other desperate to leave. The Scottish-born writer now lives in London, where she also works as a stand-up comedian.
5Sirens & MusesIn this debut novel from a Minneapolis-based writer, Louisiana native and scholarship student Louisa Arceneaux feels out of place at New York’s prestigious Wrynn College of Art. It doesn’t help that she’s attracted to her roommate Karina, the daughter of wealthy art collectors, who is in a tumultuous relationship with a senior student Preston, the creator of a controversial art blog. He is actively feuding with a visiting professor, who has come to Wrynn to restart his career. When one of Preston’s pranks upends all four artists’ lives, they are forced to make fresh starts in New York’s small art world, where their paths are bound to cross again.
In this debut novel from a Minneapolis-based writer, Louisiana native and scholarship student Louisa Arceneaux feels out of place at New York’s prestigious Wrynn College of Art. It doesn’t help that she’s attracted to her roommate Karina, the daughter of wealthy art collectors, who is in a tumultuous relationship with a senior student Preston, the creator of a controversial art blog. He is actively feuding with a visiting professor, who has come to Wrynn to restart his career. When one of Preston’s pranks upends all four artists’ lives, they are forced to make fresh starts in New York’s small art world, where their paths are bound to cross again.
6Tell Us No Secrets Tell Us No Secrets starts on Sept. 10, 1969, the first day of the school year at Stonybridge School for Girls, an exclusive New England boarding school. The books’ narrators are seniors Karen Mullens, Cassidy Thomas, Abby Madison and Zoey Spalding and, before the end of the year, one of them will be dead – a victim of another’s vengeance. This debut psychological thriller from an American writer living in London plays with the complex dynamics of female friendship and the consequences of peer pressure, set against the cultural shifts coming out of the 1960s.
Tell Us No Secrets starts on Sept. 10, 1969, the first day of the school year at Stonybridge School for Girls, an exclusive New England boarding school. The books’ narrators are seniors Karen Mullens, Cassidy Thomas, Abby Madison and Zoey Spalding and, before the end of the year, one of them will be dead – a victim of another’s vengeance. This debut psychological thriller from an American writer living in London plays with the complex dynamics of female friendship and the consequences of peer pressure, set against the cultural shifts coming out of the 1960s.
7Room and Board Who doesn’t dream of second chances? When Gillian Brodie’s career as a celebrity publicist in New York implodes, she accepts a job as a dorm mom at her alma mater, Glen Ellen Academy, a prestigious boarding school in Sonoma, Calif. Settling into her role as a mentor, Gillian reconnects with her old flame, Aidan, the one who got away. When a scandal threatens to rock the school, Gillian must try to put her PR skills to work or risk losing it all in this charming story from a New York-based writer of romantic novels.
Who doesn’t dream of second chances? When Gillian Brodie’s career as a celebrity publicist in New York implodes, she accepts a job as a dorm mom at her alma mater, Glen Ellen Academy, a prestigious boarding school in Sonoma, Calif. Settling into her role as a mentor, Gillian reconnects with her old flame, Aidan, the one who got away. When a scandal threatens to rock the school, Gillian must try to put her PR skills to work or risk losing it all in this charming story from a New York-based writer of romantic novels.
8Stargazer Set in the 1990s, Stargazer explores the edges of female friendship, where it crosses into obsession. After her sadistic brother drowns, Diana Martin is drawn to her neighbour, a celebrity fashion designer, and becomes close with her daughter, Aurelle. Diana and Aurelle decide to attend university together at the designer’s alma mater, Rocky Barriers University, a remote campus that is more like a summer camp than an academic institution. While Aurelle turns to partying, Diana discovers her own artistic talent, which threatens the girls’ friendship with tragic consequences in a novel by an associate professor at Toronto Metropolitan University.
Set in the 1990s, Stargazer explores the edges of female friendship, where it crosses into obsession. After her sadistic brother drowns, Diana Martin is drawn to her neighbour, a celebrity fashion designer, and becomes close with her daughter, Aurelle. Diana and Aurelle decide to attend university together at the designer’s alma mater, Rocky Barriers University, a remote campus that is more like a summer camp than an academic institution. While Aurelle turns to partying, Diana discovers her own artistic talent, which threatens the girls’ friendship with tragic consequences in a novel by an associate professor at Toronto Metropolitan University.