The Elin Hilderbrand Literati Book Club Pick!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!For when you want a coming-of-age novel with a dark twist. In this
provocative novel the past isn't always as far away as you think. -The Skimm[S]o beautifully
written that I marked lines-for their perceptive genius-on nearly every page... 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 LiteratiCan we ever really escape our pasts?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. They were fiercely
loyal sharp-tongued and cuttingly humorous in the way that only teenage girls can be. For
Josephine now in her thirties the years at St John were a lifetime ago. She hasn't spoken to
another Divine in fifteen years not since the day the school shuttered its doors in
disgrace.Yet now Josephine inexplicably finds herself returning to her old stomping grounds.
The visit provokes blurry recollections of those doomed final weeks that rocked the community.
Ruminating on the past Josephine becomes obsessed with her teenage identity and the forgotten
girls of her one-time orbit. With each memory that resurfaces she circles closer to the
violent secret at the heart of the school's scandal. But the more Josephine recalls the
further her life unravels derailing not just her marriage and career but her entire sense of
self.Suspenseful provocative and compulsively readable The Divines explores the tension
between the lives we lead as adults and the experiences that form us probing us to consider
how our memories as adults compel us to reexamine our pasts.
