For Josephine, now in her thirties, the years at St John were a lifetime ago. They were fiercely loyal, sharp-tongued, and cuttingly humorous in the way that only teenage girls can be. 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. 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 “o beautifully written that I marked lines-for their perceptive genius-on nearly every page. In this provocative novel, the past isn’t always as far away as you think.” - The Skimm

“For when you want a coming-of-age novel with a dark twist. 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! The Elin Hilderbrand Literati Book Club Pick! 'A c ool, chilling and elegant novel' Sarah Perry, author of The Essex Serpent With the emotional power of My Dark Vanessa and the reflective haze of The Girls, The Divines is a compulsive debut exploring the intoxicating, destructive relationships between teenage girls.

But the more Josephine recalls, the further her life unravels, derailing not just her marriage and career, but her entire sense of self.

With each memory that resurfaces, she circles closer to the ugly secret at the heart of the school's scandal. īut an impromptu visit reawakens blurry recollections of those doomed final weeks that rocked the community. She hasn't spoken to another Divine in fifteen years, not since the day the school shut its doors in disgrace. But for Josephine, now in her thirties, her time at St. They were fiercely loyal, sharp-tongued, and cutting in the way that only teenage girls can be. John the Divine, were notorious for flipping their hair, harassing teachers, chasing boys and chain-smoking cigarettes. The girls of elite English boarding school, St. My mother was Divine and her mother before that, which isn't uncommon.Īlthough that was at a time when being Divine meant something. Set in the final days before a shocking tragedy forces an elite boarding school to shut its doors for good, Ellie Eaton's The Divines is a razor-sharp debut that asks the question: were you really as good as you remember?

Ellie eaton the divines