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Gossip of the Starlings | 
 enlarge | Author: Nina De Gramont
Publisher: Algonquin Books
Category: Book
List Price: $22.95
Buy New: $5.39
You Save: $17.56 (77%)
New (36) Used (16) from $5.39
Rating:  12 reviews
Sales Rank: 37046
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 276
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 8.6 x 5.7 x 1.1
ISBN: 1565125657
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9781565125650
ASIN: 1565125657
Publication Date: June 10, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
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 charismatic and beautiful Skye Butterfield, daughter of the famous Senator Butterfield, chooses Catherine for her best friend. Skye is a young woman hell-bent on a trajectory of self-destruction, and she doesn't care who is taken down with her. No matter the transgression—a stolen credit card, a cocaine binge, an affair with a teacher, an accident that precipitates the end of Catherine's promising riding career—Catherine can neither resist Skye's spell nor stop her downward spiral.
De Gramont's chilling novel is a portrait of an adolescent girl so thoroughly seduced by a peer that she willingly follows her to ruin. Caught in a world that is both appealing and astonishing, these young women are sexual beings with the minds of teenagers: willful, selfish, daring, and cruel—all the while believing they're utterly indestructible.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
 Underwhelming August 13, 2008
Mint910 (USA)
The back cover says it all. Prep school, drugs, friendship, tragedy. Already knowing that, there was nothing left for me to be engaged by.
Gossip of the Starlings is the story of two girls (Catherine and Skye) and their friendship while attending an all girls boarding school. Catherine is a new student leaving her old school for her "bad girl" ways and Skye is the daughter of a senator with a constant spotlight on her.
I thought I was in for a shocking tragic read, it was more sad and not totally unexpected based on the premise. I didn't find myself connecting with any of the characters or really caring what happened to them. I would have enjoyed more of the prep school atmosphere, with more teachers and students and their interactions. I felt the story was pretty simple and almost quiet in a way. It would have been nice to see Catherine and Skye framed by a few more characters.
Overall it was a ok read, I did enjoy the writing, it was beautiful, just would have liked more character development and characters.
 my summer lesson August 12, 2008
L. Jean Nableaux (Buffalo, NY United States)
"Gossip..." is the third book I've read this summer that takes place in a setting not familiar to me, nor previously of interest. deGramont's book was recommended to me by a "horse person" who insisted I read it. I have to say: the prose is so flawless, so graceful, that you hardly feel yourself moving through the pages. The last third of the book seemed to accelerate for me, the pages seemed riper, more poetic as the tale moved forward -- not sure if this was from falling in love with the language, or that the story and characters sneaked into my psyche and ruffled my feathers (!!) -- I just know that I found myself racing to reach the reward of a perfect ending. This book was a very pleasant surprise. I've since ordered and started reading deGramont's collection of short fiction "Of Cats and Men" -- haunting, sneaky, dark little tales that prove this writer can jump genres like a purebred. Loving them!
A Great Book August 11, 2008
Russell S. Woodward
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I really enjoyed this book. Nina De Gramont captures the desperate, intense emotions that overwhelm all of us (male, female, rich, and poor) as we struggle through adolescence. A great book for anyone who enjoys a compelling story, beautifully told. Read it now, before the movie comes out!
Could not put it down August 10, 2008
E. Swan (Cape Cod)
I usually read something dull to put myself to sleep at night, but after reading most of this book on a plane ride, I refused to switch to my usual fare. It brought back highschool and the incredible intensity of my teenage friendships. de Gramont's prose illuminates those heady moments and secret bonds that were so all consuming. I thoroughly enjoyed this finely tuned page-turner!
An amazing story that will take you back August 10, 2008
N.V. (Los Angeles, CA United States)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
This book reminded me so vividly of what it felt like to be a teenager. The friends you can't live without; the amazing drama that takes place every day. The wealth and the location are immaterial. This story is about the incredible power of friendships and the struggle to be good. It was a beautiful and very emotional story that I read in two days.
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