"It's already the second week of term when Natasha, the daughter of a Russian oligarch, arrives at a vast English country house for her first day of boarding school. She soon discovers that the headmaster gives special treatment to the skinniest girls, and Tash finds herself thrown into the school's unfamiliar, moneyed world of fierce pecking orders, eating disorders, and Instagram angst. The halls echo with the story of Princess Augusta, the White Lady whose portraits--featuring a hypnotizing black diamond--hang everywhere ...
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"It's already the second week of term when Natasha, the daughter of a Russian oligarch, arrives at a vast English country house for her first day of boarding school. She soon discovers that the headmaster gives special treatment to the skinniest girls, and Tash finds herself thrown into the school's unfamiliar, moneyed world of fierce pecking orders, eating disorders, and Instagram angst. The halls echo with the story of Princess Augusta, the White Lady whose portraits--featuring a hypnotizing black diamond--hang everywhere and whose ghost is said to haunt the dorms. It's said that she fell in love with a commoner and drowned herself in the lake. But the girls don't really know anything about the woman she was, much less anything about one another. When Tash's friend Bianca mysteriously vanishes, the routines of the school seem darker and more alien than ever before. Tash must try to stay alive--and sane--while she uncovers what's really going on. Hilariously dark, Oligarchy is The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie for the digital age, exploring youth, power, and privilege. Scarlett Thomas captures the lives of privileged teenage girls, in all their triviality and magnitude, seeking acceptance and control in a manipulative world."--Provided by publisher.
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Add this copy of Oligarchy: a Novel to cart. $8.75, like new condition, Sold by The Maryland Book Bank rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from baltimore, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2020 by Counterpoint LLC.
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Add this copy of Oligarchy: a Novel to cart. $7.99, good condition, Sold by More Than Words rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Waltham, MA, UNITED STATES, published 2020 by Counterpoint LLC.
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Good. Former Library book. All orders guaranteed and ship within 24 hours. Your purchase supports More Than Words, a nonprofit job training program for youth, empowering youth to take charge of their lives by taking charge of a business.
Add this copy of Oligarchy: a Novel to cart. $11.50, very good condition, Sold by HPB Inc. rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2020 by Counterpoint.
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Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
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Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
'The joy in eating went a long time ago, of course, but now there is not even joy in starving'.
Natasha is the daughter of a Russian Oligarch, sent to a boarding school in England. Her new group of friends are shallow, interested in anorexia, boys and fashion - how well can she fit in?
I've never read any of Scarlett Thomas' other work and from reading Oligarchy I'm not really sure I have been inspired to do so again. I found the entire thing to be so confusing - we are told the main character is Natasha but we skip narrative perspectives frequently and as all the characters are really similar it makes for an odd read. I had no idea what was going on for most of the story; the blurb had penned it as a kind of murder/thriller type genre but then when someone dies no-one seems to particularly care and the perpetrator is found out almost by accident. There was a weird folktale about a lake and a pearl which Thomas had tried to shoe-horn into the main story but I didn't really understand the connection.
There is a strong theme of eating disorders here as well which is actually quite triggering in places. The school seem to do nothing about it but the school in general isn't focussed on very heavily, we don't really learn anything about the building, lessons, teachers or other students outside this very shallow group of girls.
I didn't find the writing style very engaging although thankfully it is a short read. I found myself powering through it to try and get to the end and work out what was the point of the story. A few parts of the writing annoyed me - the continued misuse of the word 'fluorescence' was jarring and combined with the jumbled perspective changes and the continued jumps of time and location just made it feel like a mess. I also didn't really feel like I sympathised with any of the characters - they all just felt silly and shallow and boring.
Overall Oligarchy was certainly not for me - the writing style, characterisation and poor plotting made for a pointless read. Thank you to NetGalley & Canongate for a chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
