An author's note gives a clue to the authenticity of the atmosphere: Bunting herself attended a school in Belfast that "strangely resembled" the one here. Still, there is much to enjoy here, not least the boarding school ambience deftly conveyed in numerous quirky details ("The most embarrassing thing was to have a space between the top of your stockings and the elastic of your knickers," Jessie confides at one point). Because Bunting makes such a persuasive case for looking below the surface, it's especially disturbing that the novel's one true villainess turns out to be Greta, whose single-minded, nearly cartoonish vengefulness ("You have no right to be in the company of decent people") is almost glibly passed off as the result of her having "been through too many horrors. Also involved is Greta Ludowski, a vindictive Jewish refugee from Poland. It's bad enough that she's German, but her furtive late-night walks seem to coincide with enemy air raids?could Miss Muller be a spy? Against her kinder instincts, the narrator, Jessie, gets caught up in her classmates' clandestine investigation. Miss Muller, the language teacher whom all the girls once worshiped, is now the object of their suspicions. "synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.Ī nostalgic look at life in a Belfast boarding school during WWII sweetens the impact of this heartfelt examination of the meaning of loyalty. "Readers will be rewarded with a suspenseful story that includes family secrets, a first romance, plans of revenge, and an unforgettable friendship."
But they will soon find out that appearances can be deceiving-and that judging someone can be downright dangerous. When she tells her friends, they get really suspicious. One night Jessie sees Miss Müller walking by herself in a part of the dorm that is off limits. In fact, the girls now think there's something very strange about Miss Müller. But ever since their country, Ireland, went to war with Germany, they don't feel the same way. Half-German and half-Irish, she's as beautiful as a movie star. Jessie and her best friends in boarding school have always loved their teacher, Miss Müller. Bunting shows the confusion and hysteria that wartime brings to the lives of the young, and in the process paints a true-to-life and often very funny picture of boarding school life in a more innocent era."
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