When her sex is the only thing that prevents a young woman from joining a secret society at her exclusive boarding school, she decides to show the world just how outdated such a notion is. She secretly follows her boyfriend and spies on the society’s meetings until an opportunity presents itself to infiltrate the organization.
Through a series of emails claiming to be from the society’s leader she orchestrates a number of complex pranks that the society carries out.
It is only when a scholarship boy is threatened with expulsion that she admits to her boyfriend that she was the mastermind behind the events. Her admission prevents the expulsion but ostracises her from her boyfriend and his elitist circle.
At first upset by their rejection she soon comes to accept her new reputation, pleased to have shaken off the burdensome image of the innocent child.
I really enjoyed this book. The writing was fresh. The school and all the characters within it were recognizable stereotypes yet well developed enough to stand out as individual.
The feelings of a young girl discovering, and rebelling against, the injustices of the world in general, and her world in particular, towards her sex was handled with delicacy and wit.
The boys’ reaction to the discovery of her role in the pranks felt real, as did her confusion about that reaction.
This story is a gentle and funny reminder that double standards still exist. No matter how egalitarian society would like to believe it is the old boy network is alive, well and doing its best to keep girls out. This is made very clear by the ending where the heroine is left older and wiser but arguably not particularly happier. I can’t help but wonder how different the ending would have been if the perpetrator of the pranks had been a boy instead of a girl. There’s every chance he would have ended up as the leader of the secret society rather than ostracised and in counselling for behavioural issues.
Superficially a fun read but with an underlying message for anyone who cares to see it. Highly recommended-Lynn.
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