—The Washington Post
“The prose 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.”
—The Providence Journal, Best Books of 2008
“[Gossip of the Starlings] must be the savviest and scariest book of the season. And the reason it’s such a stunner is that North Carolinian Nina de Gramont’s smooth, sinuous syntax sharpens the reader’s sense of terror, a horror that emanates from the ease with which the author’s teenage protagonists sabotage and shatter their parents, teachers, and friends.”
—The Louisville Courier-Journal
“When almost-good-girl Catherine Morrow, just sixteen, crosses paths at boarding school with the blithe, brilliant daughter of a senator, their friendship seems destined to soar, and it does—but too close to the sun. Nina de Gramont has written a stunning story of youth at its zenith and the tragic allure of a reckless zest for life that masks something far darker. I inhaled this novel in one breath.”
—Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of The Deep End of the Ocean
“[A] charged and unforgettable debut novel . . . In prose brief and powerful as poetry, Gossip of the Starlings is reminiscent of classics such as A Separate Peace and The Bell Jar.”
—Body and Soul
“De Gramont writes with uncommon grace about the hypnotizing effect of fame.”
—Time Out Chicago
“The book [is] a page-turner. Reading it is like indulging in the guilty pleasure of gossip.”
—Winston-Salem Journal
“Welcome to Nina de Gramont’s first novel, a synonym for tour de force. My heart started racing on page one and never stopped. Rarely has a book married such finely wrought lyricism with such a page-turning plot. You want a story about prep school? This is a story about prep school.”
—Alicia Erian, author of Towelhead
“De Gramont’s prose, graceful and visual, stays with the reader. She’s a writer to watch.”
—The Charlotte Observer
“The secret lives of prep-school girls Catherine and Skye come to life in this fabulous debut novel.”
—OK! Weekly
“Inspired by the true account of an ’80s drug bust, de Gramont recalls [a] destructive relationship in graceful, poetic language . . . Make sure you stick around for the surprising finale.”
—Daily Candy Boston
“[A] poignant novel . . . De Gramont’s coming-of-age story distinguishes itself with sincere prose and complex characters.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Think Donna Tartt and Bret Easton Ellis with the wisdom of hindsight . . . [A] compelling coming-of-age novel . . . [Gossip of the Starlings] excels in its honest depiction of the interrelationships among teens and with their families and circumstances. Recommended.”
—Library Journal
“Though the world within Nina de Gramont’s debut novel is well-known terrain to readers of Prep or Catcher in the Rye, the tale itself . . . transcends ready comparisons . . . The grace of de Gramont’s prose acts as seductively upon the reader as Skye does on her peers . . . Rich characters . . . and a taut narrative keep the story pulsing to the (inevitable) tragic end.”
—Bust magazine
“Memorable . . . When de Gramont focuses her gaze on her naïve, doomed muses, the book soars . . . A transfixing confessional about the secret lives of dangerous girls.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Gossip of the Starlings grabs hold of you and does not let go for a minute . . . I am not exaggerating when I say that I stayed up all night reading this book. Nina de Gramont shows us the conflicts that come with loyalty, the ease with which we choose right from wrong, and the moral consequences of both. Unflinching, wise, terrifying, and beautiful, this is a book that will resonate long after it ends.”
—Ann Hood, author of The Knitting Circle
“An elegant page-turner, Gossip of the Starlings is a compelling and beautifully nuanced story centered on the heightened emotions of adolescents. Against the backdrop of the privileged class, de Gramont skillfully captures that willful unknowingness regarding consequence and action that teenagers often have, deftly reminding us this quality does not belong only to the wealthy and the young.”
—Elizabeth Strout, author of Olive Kitteridge
“Exquisite. Nina de Gramont’s prose seems wrought from gold filaments. The story lifts off the page and hovers around you as you read. Real people and real feelings in a performance that is full-bodied and—more impressively—full of real soul. I won’t forget this book.”
—Luis Urrea, author of The Hummingbird’s Daughter
“Nina de Gramont’s novel glitters with beautiful and deceptive surfaces; her teenaged characters live comfortably in their aesthetically cosseted world yet simultaneously feel compelled to smash through those surfaces to see what’s on the other side. The narrator is achingly sensitive and unique, but the story strikes universal themes: our false sense of immortality at the very moment we act most recklessly, our nostalgia for our own youthful intensity of perception and emotion. The book is also about the attractive and deceptive nature of danger itself, and how sometimes the people we encounter in our lives who are at greatest risk are also those who make us feel most alive.”
—Wendy Brenner, author of Phone Calls from the Dead
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