Curtis Sittenfeld's sparkling debut is set in an American boarding school, a hotbed of privilege, ambition and neurosis, every bit as snobbish and competitive as anything dreamed up on this side of the Atlantic. Lee Fiora is an intelligent, observant fourteen-year-old. When her father drops her off at the prestigious Ault School in Massachusetts, she leaves behind her affectionate family in South Bend, Indiana, her head filled with images from the school's glossy brochure, in which boys in sweaters chat in front of old brick buildings, girls hold lacrosse sticks on pristine athletics fields, and everyone sings hymns in chapel. As Lee soon learns, Ault is quite unlike anything she has previously experienced, a self-enclosed world populated by jaded teenagers whose expectations, values and social rituals are utterly unfamiliar to her. At first an observer of, then a participant in the hyper-vigilant, intricately demarcated life of the school, Lee eventually finds her own place in the pecking order - until a single act of spontaneous folly shatters her carefully honed identity.
"Prep" is a sharp and lucid portrait of the pain and the excitement of adolescence, and a remorseless dissection of privilege and class in the cradle of the American establishment.
Lee is a mid-western girl with a dream -- to go to boarding school. At the tender age of 13, she applies and get accepted to a fine school in MA. Against her parents' better judgement, she begins her education there.
This story is a recollection of Lee's four years at school, but also a reflection, as it is peppered with commentary coming from an older Lee. Lee spent her four years of high school largely observing what everyone else was doing, hiding herself and her desires from everyone, but actually being seen more than she thought. I appreciated this look into a subculture that I was no part of (having gone to a public high school), but that I could relate to (said public school was very small) and experiences that most could relate to. What girl has not felt left out, not pretty enough or insecure at some point? I have read some very unfavorable reviews for this book and the complaints vary from: moves to slow to cannot relate. It is not an action-packed story. It is a girl, reflecting on lessons learned during her high school years, reflecting on missed windows of opportunity and BIG mistakes she had made. But it is a very thoughtful book, and well written. I saw myself on the campus with Lee. I felt my heart breaking for her and tears welling up in my eyes during her senior year. I felt happy for any success that she enjoyed. The fact that I felt anything for her means the book touched me in some way and the author made a connection with me.
