*Blog Tour* ~ The Exclusives by Rebecca Thornton

Jaffa and I are delighted to be hosting today's stop

on 

The Exclusives Blog Tour

The Exclusives is out on December 10^th in ebook and in paperback on the 7^th April 2016

Published by Twenty7

And here's the author


Rebecca Thornton

Hi Jo and Jaffa – thanks so much for having me at Jaffa Reads Too. My debut novel, The Exclusives, is set in an English boarding school. Here are my top five fictional boarding schools:

WILD CHILD: Poppy Moore, rich Californian girl gets sent to Abbey Mount boarding school in England, to try and keep her in check. 

My best mate asked me the other day why we were ‘still stuck in teen-land.’ Given that I’m 36, I didn’t really have much of an answer but Wild Child satisfies every single one of my teen cravings. I know this film is probably made for sixteen-year-olds, but I love it. I love it for its feel-good factor, the focus of teen friendship, the finding love part (oh and Alex Pettyfer, or Alex PettyPhwooar as the aforementioned friend calls him), the clothes - everything. And of course, Emma Roberts who plays Poppy Moore, would have been the coolest mate ever.

BACK HOME by Michelle Magorian:

This has to be one of my top books of all time. I nearly sob just thinking about it. Set in 1945, Rusty, or Virginia, gets sent back home to England after being evacuated to the Omsk family home in Connecticut. She gets sent to an English boarding school, which she hates. The book captures that awful loneliness that can happen in a boarding school and how even a hint of kindness and friendship can be a life-raft.

PREP by Curtis Sittenfeld: Lee Fiora gets a scholarship to an elite Massachusetts boarding school and has to navigate the unspoken rules and rituals imposed on her.

I loved this book, mainly because I love Curtis Sittenfeld. Wow, can she tell a story. So seamlessly. So beautifully. She’s genius at it and you find yourself remembering and recognising all the awkward bits – all the pressure and social stigmas and accepted ways to behave at school.

 TREBIZON by Anne Digby

I started reading Trebizon when I was younger than the protagonist, Rebecca Mason. Set in the eponymous fictional boarding school, Rebecca was like a worldly older sister to me. And of course, we had the same name, so I could almost pretend that I was her. Except obviously I was not a tennis champion. Oh, and she was rubbish at maths, like me.  The school always seemed so exciting – even when the girls went home for holidays, they looked forward to going back. There’s something reassuring about reading books that are familiar to you. I read them over and over, every summer and even when I became older than Rebecca Mason, I still loved them.

NEVER LET ME GO by Kazuo Ishigaro

“The woods were at the top of the hill that rose behind Hailsham House. All we could see really was a dark fringe of trees, but I certainly wasn't the only one of my age to feel their presence day and night.”

Hailsham boarding school is the setting for Ishigaro’s novel. The writing appears to be so effortless it’s hard to believe there’s something sinister going on behind the four walls. As the students get older, the school also grows in character. You can see how it’s acted as the framework for the main characters, shaping their choices and beliefs. 

Huge thanks to Rebecca for sharing her top five fictional Boarding School stories with us today and  also to Becky at  Midas PR for inviting me to be part of this Blog Tour.

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Blog Tour runs from 10th December - 16th December so do visit the other stops on the tour for more exciting news from Rebecca about The Exclusives.

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