The Divines: A Novel
(Adobe EPUB eBook, Kindle Book, OverDrive Read)
The Elin Hilderbrand Literati Book Club Pick!
Recommended by Entertainment Weekly * CNN * Harper's BAZAAR * E! Online * Refinery 29 * Bustle * Shondaland * Vulture * The Millions * Lit Hub * Electric Literature * Parade * MSN * and more!
"For when you want a coming-of-age novel with a dark twist. In this provocative novel, the past isn't always as far away as you think." —The Skimm
"[S]o beautifully written that I marked lines—for their perceptive genius—on nearly every page... This perfectly paced novel examines class structures and sexual identity and betrayals and tragedy in a way that had be both wanting to rip through the pages and wanting to savor each sentence until the extremely satisfying end." —Elin Hilderbrand for Literati
Can we ever really escape our pasts?
The girls of St John the Divine, an elite English boarding school, were notorious for flipping their hair, harassing teachers, chasing boys, and chain-smoking cigarettes. They were fiercely loyal, sharp-tongued, and cuttingly humorous in the way that only teenage girls can be. For Josephine, now in her thirties, the years at St John were a lifetime ago. She hasn't spoken to another Divine in fifteen years, not since the day the school shuttered its doors in disgrace.
Yet now Josephine inexplicably finds herself returning to her old stomping grounds. The visit provokes blurry recollections of those doomed final weeks that rocked the community. Ruminating on the past, Josephine becomes obsessed with her teenage identity and the forgotten girls of her one-time orbit. With each memory that resurfaces, she circles closer to the violent secret at the heart of the school's scandal. But the more Josephine recalls, the further her life unravels, derailing not just her marriage and career, but her entire sense of self.
Suspenseful, provocative, and compulsively readable, The Divines explores the tension between the lives we lead as adults and the experiences that form us, probing us to consider how our memories as adults compel us to reexamine our pasts.
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Ellie Eaton. (2021). The Divines: A Novel. HarperCollins.
Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)Ellie Eaton. 2021. The Divines: A Novel. HarperCollins.
Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)Ellie Eaton, The Divines: A Novel. HarperCollins, 2021.
MLA Citation (style guide)Ellie Eaton. The Divines: A Novel. HarperCollins, 2021.
| Library | Owned | Available |
|---|---|---|
| Shared Digital Collection | 4 | 4 |
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Ellie Eaton is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in the Guardian, the Observer, and Time Out. Former writer-in-residence at a men's prison in the United Kingdom, she holds an M.A. in creative writing from Royal Holloway, University of London, and was awarded a Kerouac Project residency. Born and raised in England, Ellie now lives in Los Angeles with her family. The Divines is her first novel.
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The Elin Hilderbrand Literati Book Club Pick!
Recommended by Entertainment Weekly * CNN * Harper's BAZAAR * E! Online * Refinery 29 * Bustle * Shondaland * Vulture * The Millions * Lit Hub * Electric Literature * Parade * MSN * and more!
"For when you want a coming-of-age novel with a dark twist. In this provocative novel, the past isn't always as far away as you think." —The Skimm
"[S]o beautifully written that I marked lines—for their perceptive genius—on nearly every page... This perfectly paced novel examines class structures and sexual identity and betrayals and tragedy in a way that had be both wanting to rip through the pages and wanting to savor each sentence until the extremely satisfying end." —Elin Hilderbrand for Literati
Can we ever really escape our pasts?
The girls of St John the Divine, an elite English boarding school, were notorious for flipping their hair, harassing teachers, chasing boys, and chain-smoking cigarettes. They were fiercely loyal, sharp-tongued, and cuttingly humorous in the way that only teenage girls can be. For Josephine, now in her thirties, the years at St John were a lifetime ago. She hasn't spoken to another Divine in fifteen years, not since the day the school shuttered its doors in disgrace.
Yet now Josephine inexplicably finds herself returning to her old stomping grounds. The visit provokes blurry recollections of those doomed final weeks that rocked the community. Ruminating on the past, Josephine becomes obsessed with her teenage identity and the forgotten girls of her one-time orbit. With each memory that resurfaces, she circles closer to the violent secret at the heart of the school's scandal. But the more Josephine recalls, the further her life unravels, derailing not just her marriage and career, but her entire sense of self.
Suspenseful, provocative, and compulsively readable, The Divines explores the tension between the lives we lead as adults and the experiences that form us, probing us to consider how our memories as adults compel us to reexamine our pasts.
- reviews
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- source: Vulture, New York Magazine
- content: "In this captivating debut novel, Ellie Eaton traces adolescent female sexuality, class divides, and the weight of formative memories on adults."
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- source: Refinery 29
- content: "A provocative meditation on our obsession with youth—including our own—and an exploration into the power and perversity of teenage girls, The Divines is perfectly twisted in its reflection of an utterly toxic environment, making it impossible to put down till you get to its end."
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- source: Sarah Perry, Internationally bestselling author of The Essex Serpent and Melmoth
- content: "The Divines is a cool, chilling and elegant novel that intrigues and compels the reader, while filleting the absurdities of British class hierarchy with a very, very sharp knife. In Eaton's stylish and controlled prose, the oppressive atmosphere of a girls' boarding school becomes the site of a violent and mysterious act, but also a lens through which to examine the intoxicating and unnerving power of adolescent sexuality, the dangers and consolations of friendship, and the toxic nature of the class divide. It's a terrific, entertaining and astute work and one of considerable relevance to the way we live now."
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- source: Susie Yang, New York Times bestselling author of White Ivy
- content: "The Divines is a scintillating coming-of-age story about the brutal bonds of female boarding school friendships, class prejudices, and the ways in which false memories can take the place of truth. Sephine is an unflinching and utterly convincing narrator. I lapped up every delicious detail."
- premium: False
- source: Publishers Weekly
- content: "[An] intelligent debut... Eaton does a good job describing class tension and the misery of trying to fit into a social clique as a teenager. Josephine's steady unraveling of her teenage dramas will keep readers riveted."
- premium: True
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October 12, 2020
Eaton’s intelligent debut follows freelance writer Josephine as she reflects on her past as a bully at a now-defunct all-girls English boarding school. In flashbacks to the mid-1990s, it’s revealed that Josephine’s lower-class roommate, Gerry Lake, suffered a fall from their dorm window that threatened her figure-skating career and led to a scandal that forced the school to close. Before the fall, Gerry had long been bullied by a group of classmates led by Josephine’s frosty best friend, Skipper. Insecure and lonely, Josephine befriends Lauren McKibbin (whose older brother, Stuart, handles maintenance for the school), despite a prohibition on socializing with “townies.” As the girls grow closer, Josephine develops a crush on Stuart and tries to retain the good graces of her old crew by joining in on their bullying of Gerry, even after Gerry helps her deal with an upsetting incident involving Stuart. The book winds down on a satisfying note as a school reunion and Josephine’s travel for an assignment lead her to catch up with key characters and confront some unflattering things about herself. Eaton does a good job describing class tension and the misery of trying to fit into a social clique as a teenager. Josephine’s steady unraveling of her teenage dramas will keep readers riveted.
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November 1, 2020
Sephine is on her honeymoon with her new husband when they stop in the small British town where she attended boarding school. The students at the all-girls St. John the Divine called themselves Divines. They went by boys' names, looked down their noses at the townies, and engaged in ruthless pranks, until the school was absorbed by a larger one thirty miles away. In town, a woman throws an awful insult at Sephine, causing her to contemplate the Divines' final days. The narrative splits into two; one stays in the present, while the other explores Sephine's memories. To this day, she is affected by the accidental death of her roommate, Gerry, a driven figure skater who was teased and bullied by the other Divines. As she remembers, Sephine must confront how this time at school shaped her life and how culpable she was in creating the trauma of others. At times both sharp and haunting, this novel embodies the awkwardness and regret of adolescence, complicated by Sephine's superior identity as a Divine. A layered and complex debut.COPYRIGHT(2020) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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The Elin Hilderbrand Literati Book Club Pick!
Recommended by Entertainment Weekly * CNN * Harper's BAZAAR * E! Online * Refinery 29 * Bustle * Shondaland * Vulture * The Millions * Lit Hub * Electric Literature * Parade * MSN * and more!
"For when you want a coming-of-age novel with a dark twist. In this provocative novel, the past isn't always as far away as you think." —The Skimm
"[S]o beautifully written that I marked lines—for their perceptive genius—on nearly every page... This perfectly paced novel examines class structures and sexual identity and betrayals and tragedy in a way that had be both wanting to rip through the pages and wanting to savor each sentence until the extremely satisfying end." —Elin Hilderbrand for Literati
Can we ever really escape our pasts?
The girls of St John the Divine, an elite English boarding school, were notorious for...
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