Rebecca Makkai's 6 favorite books that take place in boarding schools
The author recommends works by Kazuo Ishiguro, Lacy Crawford, and more
![Rebecca Makkai](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/sV2jJFi96YhVcpnwWDyJJB-415-80.jpg)
When you make a purchase through links on our site, we may earn a commission.
In Rebecca Makkai's new novel, I Have Some Questions for You, a woman returns to teach at the boarding school where her roommate was murdered years earlier. Below, the author of The Great Believers recommends six other boarding-school books.
Behind the Attic Wall by Sylvia Cassedy (1983)
In a novel that was one of my childhood favorites, 12-year-old Maggie goes to live with her two great-aunts at Adelphi Hills, a boarding school that closed after a tragic fire. The founders' ghosts live on in the attic, in dolls' bodies, and Maggie soon becomes enmeshed in their world. Behind the Attic Wall is a masterpiece of the slow reveal, and still gives me goosebumps. Buy it here.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
![https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516-320-80.jpg)
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (2005)
Sure, Ishiguro's Booker Prize finalist is science fiction of the highest order. But it also exists within the long tradition of the English boarding school novel, as a great-great grandchild of 18th and 19th-century progenitors such as Sarah Fielding's The Governess and Thomas Hughes' Tom Brown's School Days. Buy it here.
Old School by Tobias Wolff (2003)
Set at an all-boys' boarding school in the 1960s, Wolff's novel is a story of identity, ambition, and plagiarism, with cameos from Ernest Hemingway, Robert Frost, and Ayn Rand. I know of one real-life writers' festival that started when a high school student read this novel and realized that hosting visiting writers was a possibility. Buy it here.
The Virgins by Pamela Erens (2013)
A deeply unreliable narrator looks back on 1979 to a romance between two of his classmates at an Exeter stand-in and the resultant tragedy that unfolded. This novel is a rule-breaker and a heartbreaker. Buy it here.
Notes on a Silencing by Lacy Crawford (2020)
This is not a novel, but a memoir with novelistic ambience and scope. Crawford writes with stunning insight about her assault at a New England boarding school in the early 1990s and the school's unconscionable response. Buy it here.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Villette by Charlotte Brontë (1853)
The last novel published during Brontë's short life, Villette — the story of the deeply repressed Lucy Snowe, who leaves England for the Continent to teach at a girls' pensionnat — is superior to Jane Eyre, and the only book I've ever literally thrown across the room. I did it out of passion, not disgust. Buy it here.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
Zombie mortgages are on the rise again. Here's what to know about them.
The Explainer Second mortgages homeowners thought were settled can cause some serious problems
By Becca Stanek, The Week US Published
-
Should you try a 'no-spend' month?
The Explainer Set yourself up for success with spending less
By Becca Stanek, The Week US Published
-
Crossword: July 4, 2024
The Week's daily crossword
By The Week Staff Published
-
Conn Iggulden recommends 6 unforgettable books with historical themes
Feature The British author recommends works by Patrick O'Brian, Richard Dawkins, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Five books chosen by Nina Stibbe
Feature The author recommends works by David Sedaris, Alba de Céspedes and more
By The Week UK Published
-
Julia Phillips' 6 favorite books that explore the beauty and brutality of life
Feature The Novelist recommends works by Alice Walker, Colson Whitehead, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Joseph Earl Thomas's 6 favorite books that tackle social issues
Feature The author recommends works by Fernanda Melchor, Adania Shibli, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Ivy Pochoda's 6 favorite books that explore the dark side of human nature
Feature The thriller writer recommends works by Cormac McCarthy, Rachel Kushner, and more
By The Week Staff Published
-
R.O. Kwon's 6 favorite books that are full of wisdom
Feature The National Book Critics Circle finalist recommends works by Melissa Febos, C Pam Zhang and more
By The Week US Published
-
Jasper Fforde's 6 favorite books that embark on daring adventures
Feature The British writer recommends works by Charles Portis, Beryl Markham, and more
By The Week US Published
-
25 of America's most unexpectedly banned books
In Depth From 'Harriet the Spy' to 'Little Red Riding Hood,' these books have all fallen afoul of censors
By The Week Staff Published