Frost In May (VMC) - Softcover

White, Antonia

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0860680495 ISBN 13: 9780860680499

Publisher: Virago, 1998

Synopsis

Nanda Gray, the daughter of a Catholic convert, is nine when she is sent to the Convent of Five Wounds. Quick-witted, resilient and eager to please, she accepts this closed world where, with all the enthusiasm of the outsider, her desires and passions become only those the school permits. Her only deviation from total obedience is the passionate friendships she makes.

Convent life is perfectly captured - the smell of beeswax and incense; the petty cruelties of the nuns; the eccentricities of Nanda's school friends.

About this title

Review:

Intense, troubling, semi-miraculous . . . It is not the only school story to be a classic; but I can think of no other that is a work of art (ELIZABETH BOWEN)

Frost in May is the unsurpassed novel of convent school life. This story of a clash between a determined young girl and an authoritarian regime is both perceptive and painfully emotional, convincing in every detail (HERMIONE LEE, OBSERVER)

A masterpiece. Beautifully written, it is a calm and factual record of the slow death of the soul (SELINA HASTINGS)

Evelyn Waugh called [her] one of the very best novelists of the day a title she still deserves (CAROL SHIELDS)

Book Description:

A masterpiece. Beautifully written, it is a calm and factual record of the slow death of the soul' Selina Hastings

About this edition

• Publisher: Virago
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0860680495
• ISBN 13: 9780860680499
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 224