Description
"The untimely death of a student at a boarding school for privileged girls turns out to be the first in a haunting series of escalating supernatural events. A thrilling debut novel about teenage repression, queer desire, and the everyday horror of coming of age. In 1928, Emily Locke's final year at the isolated Briarley School for Girls is derailed when Violet, the school's brightest star, (and a cunning beauty for whom Emily would do anything), falls to her death on her eighteenth birthday. Emily and her buttoned-up rival Evelyn are, for once, in agreement: Violet's death was no accident. There's an obvious culprit, the French schoolmistress with whom Violet was getting a little too close--they only need to prove it. Desperate for answers, Emily and her classmates turn to spiritualism, hoping to conjure Violet's ghost or a glimpse of wisdom from the great beyond. To their shock, Violet's spirit does appear, choosing pious Evelyn as her unlikely medium. And Violet warns them: the danger has just begun. Something deadly is infecting Briarley. It starts with rotten food and curdled milk, but quickly grows more insidious. As the body count rises and students race to save themselves, Emily must confront the fatal forces poisoning the school. Emily's fight for survival forces her to reevaluate everything she knows: about Violet, Evelyn, Briarley, and, ultimately, herself. Avery Curran channels the indelible ambience and intrigue of the classic boarding school novel while turning the beloved genre on its head in this visceral, exuberant debut"-- Provided by publisher.
