The Finishing School

February 1, 2017
A writer haunted by the secrets of her boarding school days determines to find out the truth behind a suspicious accident in Goodman's (Harmony, 2007, etc.) suspenseful novel.As a teenager, Kersti attended a swanky Swiss boarding school where she made close friends with a group of wealthy girls. Her closest confidante, her glamorous roommate, Cressida, had a terrible accident a few months before graduation, and Kersti left, hoping to put everything behind her and move on with her life. Eighteen years later, she has become a successful novelist but is unable to have a child, and her marriage is under terrific strain. When she receives an invitation from the Lycee to return for the school's hundred-year celebration and speak as a distinguished alumna, she begins to sift through stories of the past, realizing, with the help of a mysterious letter from an old friend, that there are still too many unanswered questions surrounding Cressida's accident. Goodman intercuts the story of Kersti's years at the Lycee with her investigations and decisions of the present day, allowing the main characters to deepen and take on more form as the novel progresses. Secondary characters are granted little development, but Kersti herself, daughter of Estonian immigrants and profoundly lonely within her family, is a fetching heroine despite her one-note, obsessive desire for a baby. Some of the plot twists are too convenient, and some too expected, but there is enough subterfuge to drive the story to the final answers and confrontation--and to achieve surprise. If your guilty-pleasure reads include elite boarding schools, secret societies, murder, and scandal, this one's for you.

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March 15, 2017

On the surface Kersti Kuusk is doing well, making a living as a novelist and living in Toronto with her husband, Jay. Beyond her successful facade, she's in her mid-30s, struggling with infertility, and trying to cope with long-held insecurities. Plus she's still haunted by her best friend's mysterious fall from a fourth-floor balcony at their prestigious Swiss boarding school years ago. Then a letter arrives inviting her to speak at the school's 100th anniversary celebration, followed by a letter from her dying former schoolmate Lille, which questions Cressida's "accidental" fall. The letters catapult Kersti on a quest to track down her classmates and teachers who might be more forthcoming after all these years. As she digs deeper, everything indicates that the ledgers of the Helvetian Society, a secret but long-banned club at the school, hold the answers. The shocking truths that Kersti eventually uncovers lead her to a dangerous confrontation and some devastating realizations. VERDICT Goodman's (You Made Me Love You; Harmony) novel alternates between the present and the 1990s, giving it the feel of both a coming-of-age-story and a literary mystery but ultimately culminating in an addictive read full of skillfully conveyed characters. [See Prepub Alert, 10/31/16.]--Melissa DeWild, BookOps, New York P.L.

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