Thorn Abbey

Gr 9 Up—This novel opens with the narrator's description of a dream in which she's walking down a long road. She falls in love with Max, whose true love drowned the year before, and it seems that the former girlfriend is not as perfect as readers were led to believe. Sound familiar? Ohlin's story is based on Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, modernized and set in a posh prep school. The premise is intriguing, but the results are mixed. The gauche narrator/dead girl/brooding boy/sociopathic-friend-of-the-dead-girl conceit works well in a setting with wealthy teens. However, some of the devices are awkward. Becca's cousin, Killian Montgomery, and his unctuous, knows-about-wine, very man-of-the-world personality do not ring true for a high school student. In addition, today's teens will most likely be put off by the fact that the cousins had an affair. Every character and event in Rebecca has its counterpart here. Like Manderley, the school auditorium goes up in an intentionally set conflagration. Tess, the narrator, takes advice from the none-too-reliable BFF about what to wear to the ball and the night ends badly. Readers need not be familiar with the classic novel to enjoy this update. On its own, Thorn Abbey is a fast-paced, entertaining read, filled with drama, ghosts, and obsession.—Jennifer Prince, Buncombe County Public Libraries, NC