Josephine is on her honeymoon when she is seized with a sudden desire to visit her old boarding school, St John the Divine. She hasn’t kept in touch with schoolfriends or thought about school since it shut in disgrace when she was in fifth form. But suddenly Josephine is obsessed, reliving those last few days and the memory of what happened to the unpopular, bullied Gerry Lake.

The ‘Divines’ were rich, privileged and snobby and hated by the local townspeople. Through Josephine’s memories, we are drawn into the world of the Divines: the secret smoking and drinking, the obsessing over boys, the all-consuming relationships of teenage girls, and the casual cruelty that cut so deep.

Josephine was part of the popular group but her connections had slipped. She was forced to share a dorm with Gerry and struck up a friendship with townie Lauren. As the school faced a forced merger, the girls spiraled out of control, which culminated in a horrifying accident involving Gerry. Years later, Josephine cannot move on with her life until she faces up to her past.

Life at this elite boarding school was not jolly hockey sticks and midnight feasts. The girls are awful but Eaton evokes so well the angst-ridden teenage world, the dark side of female friendship and the long-lasting impacts of bullying on both perpetrator and victim that I found this a compelling read.

Reviewed by Melinda Woledge