Gossip of the Starlings [Paperback]

Nina de Gramont (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2, 2009

When Catherine Morrow is admitted to the Esther Percy School for Girls, it's on the condition that she reform her ways. But that's before the beautiful and charismatic Skye Butterfield, daughter of the famous Senator Butterfield, chooses Catherine for her best friend. Skye is in love with danger and the thrill of breaking rules, taking risks, and crossing boundaries, no matter the stakes. The problem is, the stakes keep getting higher, and Catherine can neither resist Skye nor stop her from taking down everyone around her.

De Gramont's chilling novel is a portrait of the seductions of adolescence in all their beauty and terror. Caught in this alluring world, the girls of Esther Percy are optimistic and willful, loving and selfish, daring and cruel—all the while believing they're utterly indestructible.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this poignant novel, de Gramont explores a loyal and destructive friendship between two girls at a New England prep school. Catherine Morrow, the book's relatable protagonist, can't believe her luck when Skye, the popular daughter of acclaimed senator Douglas Butterfield, befriends her. A symbol of idealistic American wholesomeness, Skye is quick to push the boundaries at the Esther Percy School, and soon she joins Catherine in a blur of drunken nights and cocaine binges. But as Catherine cleans up and focuses on school work and extracurricular activities, Skye spirals deeper into her addiction and has an affair with a teacher. Despite Catherine's efforts, she can't untangle herself from Skye's daring escapades, and soon the girls are again involved in dangerous situations. Though Catherine warns the reader of the story's tragic finale from the opening chapters, the ending still reverberates with heartbreak. De Gramont's coming-of-age story distinguishes itself with sincere prose and complex characters.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

"The kind of smart and riveting read that fans of a certain kind of campus drama—think Donna Tartt's The Secret History — will devour...There's romance, betrayal, a gorgeous scholarship boy and a spot-on rendering of the queasy regret you sometimes feel when friends from separate orbits meet. Grab this one and share it with your teenage daughter.” —People, four stars
(People )

"It's a rare book that draws you into the tiny, idiosyncratic world of its characters so completely, and de Gramont’s descriptions are often so vivid you'll want to give them a closer read...grade: A-."—The Washington Post


(The Washington Post )

"Sparkles with an intense exuberance . . . it trumps Catcher in the Rye and A Separate Peace...Gossip of the Starlings will join that shelf reserved for literary classics." —Providence Sunday Journal


(Providence Sunday Journal )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Algonquin Books; Reprint edition (June 2, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565126769
• ISBN-13: 978-1565126763
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #960,999 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Nina de Gramont is the author of a collection of short stories, Of Cats and Men, and the co-editor of an anthology, Choice. Her novel, Gossip of the Starlings, was published in 2008, and she has also written a young adult novel, Every Little Thing in the World. Nina's work has appeared in Redbook, Seventeen, Exquisite Corpse, post road, Isotope, and the Harvard Review.

Learn more about Nina at www.ninadegramont.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Scandalmonger, July 19, 2008

By 

Ashlea Bowens - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gossip of the Starlings (Hardcover)

After reading glowing reviews from other readers regarding "Of Cats and Men," I picked up a copy and was pleasantly surprised by de Gramont's talent and prose. I'm still in awe of the author's writing skill after reading "Gossip of the Starlings," but the tale failed to strike any feeling in me other than irritation. Not that the author loses her beautiful, lyrical voice in this endeavor; she doesn't. But my sentiments echo those of a previous reviewer in that it wasn't at all entertaining to read about wealthy, spoiled, self-indulgent girls with nothing better to do than snort cocaine and, in the case of one character, actively and consciously behave in self-destructive ways while seeming righteously aggrieved by the fallacies of those around her and being coldly cynical as a result. High praise indeed for Nina de Gramont's prose, but this tale left me dissatisfied.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow!!!, July 21, 2008

By 

C. Jacobs (Rhode Island) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gossip of the Starlings (Hardcover)

The best book I've read in years - de Gramont's writing is stunning, gorgeous, and she captures the struggles of being a teenager - ANY teenager - brilliantly. I may not have gone to prep school, but I know these girls, I know these feelings, the alienation, the acceptance, the dazzling friend who you love and hate at the same time. There are sentences in this book that I had to read three times in a row - and I still didn't stop reading until the whole beautiful and tragic story was done. If you want to read a book that will keep you talking, that will take you back in time and then make you pick up the phone to say YOU HAVE TO READ THIS! then get this book. Brilliant.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Invulnerability, not wealth, the point here, August 8, 2008

By 

M. S. "avid reader" (Nantucket, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gossip of the Starlings (Hardcover)

A friend gave me this book and I thoroughly enjoyed it and identified with the characters (although it's been a while since I was a kid.) It captures that fleeting, shared sense between teenage girlfriends that you are immortal. And I didn't find the characters' wealth distracting or alienating. It functions mostly just to allow these girls to take greater risks, which ups the stakes, which kept me interested.

I never had a pony, either; but I don't hold it against a fictional character that she rides horses. Bloody _Catcher in the Rye_ begins at prep school.