A Victorian boarding school story, a Gothic mansion mystery, a gossipy
romp about a clique of girlfriends, and a dark other-worldly fantasy - jumble
them all together and you have this complicated and unusual first novel.
Sixteen-year-old Gemma has had an unconventional upbringing in India,
until the day she foresees her mother's death in a black, swirling vision that
turns out to be true. Sent back to England, she is enrolled at Spence, a girls'
academy with a mysterious burned-out East Wing. There Gemma is snubbed by
powerful Felicity, beautiful Pippa, and even her own dumpy roommate Ann, until
she blackmails herself and Ann into the treacherous clique. Gemma is distressed
to find that she has been followed from India by Kartik, a beautiful young man
who warns her to fight off the visions. Nevertheless, they continue, and one
night she is led by a child-spirit to find a diary that reveals the secrets of
a mystical Order. The clique soon finds a way to accompany Gemma to the
other-world realms of her visions "for a bit of fun" and to taste the
power they will never have as Victorian wives, but they discover that the
delights of the realms are overwhelmed by a menace they cannot control. Gemma is
left with the knowledge that her role as the link between worlds leaves her
with a mission to seek out the "others" and rebuild the Order. A
Great and Terrible Beauty is an impressive first book in what should prove
to be a fascinating trilogy.
To have a book hailed as "a
Victorian boarding school story and a Gothic mansion mystery", it's hard
not to dive right in, and still harder not to be excited about the book's
potential as a whole. Expectation management goes right out the window in
instances like these - and expectation management is something that would do it
a world of good in the long run.
Because A Great And Terrible Beauty is
incredibly clever. And A Great
And Terrible Beauty is incredibly slow.
