It was exactly like a modern-day Greek tragedy. I even feel like Sarah Stovell said something similar, that that’s what she intended for the book. But maybe I imagined it. Yeah, it’s dark and inevitable like those tragedies. Love.

In fact it seems to almost never get pointed out. My sisters and I are always griping about how hysterical people get about kids being snatched off the streets, when the far likelier scenario is their being abused by the parents’ friends and relations.

Yay for family secrets! They are much more fun in books than in real life. :p

I think it’s something about the shut-in-ness of boarding schools. There are a finite group of people, and you cannot get away from them, so you have to figure out a way to deal with them. Same reason I like manor house mysteries. 😀

It was. I wasn’t completely thrilled with out it turned out, though. I appreciated that Stovell didn’t give her characters–any of them–a pass on taking responsibility for their lives, but damn, that ending was bleak.

Thanks! Although I wouldn’t wish this kind of stress on anyone, it’s nice to know there are others struggling with the same stuff as me.

Yes, I think it would have been quite different if written by Vonnegut. 🙂

Actually, it’s only sort of about the Tragedy of Which No One Speaks. But it’s a good opener anyway. I love books with severely dysfunctional families too! When I was small I used to write stories about really really wicked parents being cruel to their virtuous children, and my parents found it disturbing. :p

Hahaha, I am almost never actually looking for a grim book, but sometimes I can deal with them if they are very good. But I hope you like it if you get into a grim book mood! 🙂

I do too. In fact this one’s not set at a boarding school very much, and when the characters leave the boarding school, the book becomes way more depressing. But it’s still very good.