The Divines

Josephine is one of the Divines, girls attending an expensive boarding school in England. In her fifth year, however, things go badly wrong, beginning with her sharing a room with an unpopular girl, which jeopardizes her social standing and ending in mayhem and tragedy. Going back and forth between this pivotal year and Josephine as a married adult, Ellie Eaton tells the story of what happens when over-privileged girls are kept together with too little supervision and what happens when a girl who has always been a follower is put in a position where her values are tested.

I'm a sucker for a school story, especially one set it such a different world, but this one ultimately pulled its punches in ways that left me dissatisfied. I did like show more how Josephine was passive in her own story, how she was unable to parse the motivations of others, or even understand herself. Feeling left out of her friend group had her willing to make friends with a townie, a girl who both encourages Josephine to take a new look at her privileged life and who has her own motivations for hanging out with her. Josephine as an adult is not that different from Josephine as a teenager. She's contemptuous of her previous life, but also fascinated and eager to find out what happened to her former schoolmates. show less

The British accents in my audio version definitely enhanced my experience of this book. The prologue is a hook - clearly something sinister has transpired and the rest of the book helps us figure it out and helps the main character, Josephine come to terms with it. She attended St. John the Divine, the prestigious girls' boarding school for girls in the 1990s, but a couple current day incidents bring those days to mind, not unlike a PTSD flashback. On her honeymoon, she and her husband pass close by and she persuades him to stop and see the school, now closed. An accident involving a girl in her year surfaces from a buried subconscious (reference back to the prologue) Within another year, she gives birth to a daughter, and probably is show more suffering from baby-blues, but she is also confronting the generational expectation of women in her family and ‘station.’ Her mother is also pestering her about an upcoming school reunion. Josephine's grandmother and mother also went to St. John's as did all the mothers of her classmates - it is that kind of place - and they all call themselves the "divines" which gives a pretty good clue to their attitude. In Jo's sixth form, (age 16) she is assigned to room with the class pariah, Gerry Lake and this colors her year - she is insecure about her place among her popular friends, embarrassed about her roommate, uncomfortable in her sexual development and experience (or lack thereof compared to her peers). In this self-inflicted misery, she befriends Lauren, a 'townie' who goes to St. Edmunds (the local public school) and crushes on her older brother Stuart and in a way, uses her privilege to wreak havoc. So many bad decisions stem from this one feeling of insecurity. Looking back on it from adulthood, she is haunted by who she was and projects that onto who her daughter could become. It felt a little bit like A Separate Peace and Lord of the Flies - the female version, but that is what made it just cringe-y enough to be captivating. show less

An accident that occurred 14 years ago continues to haunt one former student of the exclusive private school, St. John the Divine. Sephine returns to the now-closed academy while on her honeymoon and reluctantly shares scant details with her new husband. An odd encounter sparks memories of her time there, and the remainder of The Divines by Ellie Eaton is devoted to flashes forward and back to those days. Sephine does not fondly recall her teen years spent as a “Divine.” She struggles to reconcile the selfishness, privilege and entitlement that she experienced while attending, and questions her own morality and behavior as a spoiled member of that class. Her skewed perspective and opinionated narrative is the only guide the reader show more has to sort out the details of the incident and the events leading up to that day. Sephine (known as Joe in her school days) as a teen was a pitiable mixture of self-absorption and low confidence, predictably shallow and always striving for acceptance. When she befriends a “Townie,” she simultaneously fears exile from her peers and revels in her “slumming” adventure. The people of the town also have a deep resentment of the school, which is understandable given the student’s treatment of them and their reliance upon it as a singular source of employment. The girls from the school wreak havoc and are not held accountable for their misdeeds outside its gates. The tragic accident that launches the book results from a tradition gone awry and highlights the feral nature that can emerge when there are no consequences. As an adult, Sephine has difficulty with relationships and attachments to others. She blames her awkwardness on the school’s negative influence and the traumatizing events that took place so long ago. As she obsesses over the past and grips her distorted memories more tightly, she loses her stability and happiness in the present. Eaton presents a narrator that is realistic and deeply flawed, and she captures her teenage angst with skill. The Divines is a quick, fun read, and would likely appeal to young adult readers and fans of “Pretty Little Liars” and “Gossip Girl.”

Thanks to the author and William Morrow/HarperCollins for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an impartial review. show less

This is a coming-of-age story like no other and it does not make my want to send my granddaughter to a private boarding school. The girls of St. John the Divine are cruel to one another. They are cruel elitists. Told by a graduate of the school, Josephine, it looks back on her time as a “Divine”. Now married and living in the US she had pushed the school to the back of her mind until her honeymoon when she and her husband stopped by to visit. Josephine has reason to regret her actions which she thought led to the death of her roommate. She’s haunted by them, and as she says “ I was a teenager, self-obsessed, too caught up in my own narrative to care about anyone but myself.” While all the characters, including the adults were show more unlikable, the audiobook made it impossible to put down. With great voice change and pace, Imogen Church has created a listening experience that will remain with me for a long time. show less

Sephine has escaped from her background - newly married to sculptor and working as a freelance journalist, she lives a bohemian life. Twenty years ago though Josephine was a member of the fifth form at an elite girls' boarding school, St John the Divine. These Divines were rude, arrogant and entitled but Josephine broke the mould by mixing with a 'Townie' until a scandal engulfed the school and it shut.
Josephine is not really likeable at any point in this book and is incredibly self-centred which I found irritating. However, I loved the premise of the poor working-class town dependent on the elite school for its economy whilst loathing the students. There's also an insight into the whole 'old boys club' idea. Certain sections were very show more long-winded, I found myself more interested in the school memories than pretentious modern day bohemian living, but I did stay engrossed to the end show less

Dnf at 30%. Not a bad story, but I didn’t find the dual timelines to be effective as most of the action took place in the past. If it had been set back then and in present tense it would have been a lot more exciting!

I get it: we all learn from our past and hope to make amends from mistakes when it's possible. That's what this book was about which focused on a woman reflecting on her school days. Slow going with the first half of the book about a wealthy girls group called "the divines" that feels superior over the workers of her town - the "townies." The last half was better as the plot started to come together. But the end was my favorite as the drama was finally over.

Josephine shares her secret past with her handsome husband for the first time on their honeymoon. Then she keeps drifting back wondering what happened to the people of her school since she moved away. She returns to her school to find answers about her past friends and those she show more picked on.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read this advanced copy. show less