Beyond Admissions: The Campus Novel
This article was originally published on Medium.com.
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I sat on a panel last weekend at the Boston Book Festival with three incredible authors of recent releases to discuss “The Campus Novel.” Long-held favorites in American literature, campus novels are set in academia with protagonists coming of age among a variety of pressures. Schools, after all, have long provided ripe settings in literature — think THE LORDS OF DISCIPLINE by Patrick Conroy. They are convenient microcosms, mysterious islands unto themselves with specific codes of conduct and traditions. If a writer’s primary objective is to ‘world-build,’ then campuses provide a great head start.
In addition to my novel, THE NINE, the Boston Book Festival panel included CJ Farley with his novel AROUND HARVARD SQUARE, Mona Awad and BUNNY, and Elizabeth Ames who wrote THE OTHER’S GOLD. While THE NINE is set on a fictional boarding school campus, AROUND HARVARD SQUARE and THE OTHER’S GOLD are set on college campuses, and BUNNY portrays one young woman’s experience in an MFA program. Our moderator, Lisa Borders, kicked off the discussion with the ways we had each spun this recognizable genre, however, CJ Farley was quick to point out that the four novels, with regard to subject matter at least, were more similar than different.
There was head nodding on the stage. We were, he continued, all dwelling on the theme of exclusivity and groups — whether cliques of friends, societies (secret and otherwise). Our protagonists are disheartened as they meet continuous tests of acceptance inside their respective academic settings. And while our young heroes and heroines may have been conflicted about these groups at first, they ultimately wanted in. Whereas one (a parent for instance) may have assumed gaining admission to the likes of Harvard was success in itself, our characters are disheartened with the continuous tests of acceptance that are set out before them. BUNNY and THE OTHER’S GOLD are interesting in their deep dive into the world of female friendship and the intense bonds (for better or worse) that are created on campuses during early adulthood. After touching on the theme of acceptance, loyalty and betrayal were obvious follow-ups in all of our novels.
Farley talked about the seemingly endless interaction with gatekeepers. His novel is about a young black man attending Harvard and his discovering ways he did not belong. College admissions opens the first gate — and then the fun begins. Our panel discussed the tension between insiders and outsiders — a timely topic with college admissions scandals in the news. Timely, but also timeless — we talked about the fact there have always been those with special access (legacies, and athletes) — groups who seem to hold a master key. Indeed, a protagonist’s ability to navigate new worlds within a campus’s walls where learning the secret handshake is hard, creates confusion and mystery and is at the core of the campus novel genre.
In BUNNY, Awad shares my fascination with secret societies — their power of seduction — and underworlds facilitated by tunnels and dark places. In the vein of DEAD POET’S SOCIETY, or THE SECRET HISTORY, we write about primal sisterhoods and fraternities with incantations and candles glowing in the dark, taking us back to an impressionable time in life — one of all night sleepovers, Ouija boards, and the potential for Lord of The Flies type cruelty.
Besides the aforementioned novels on my 2019 Boston Book Festival panel, there have been a number of campus novels to hit the scene recently, attracting my attention for obvious reasons!
THE EXPECTATIONS by Alex Tilney is set at a boarding school in the 1990’s, where Ben and his roommate Ahmed are from vastly different backgrounds, one dressed in Brooks Brothers classics, attending the school as his Yankee birthright, while the other is from a Muslim, oil-rich country, and dresses in custom suits tailored-made on Seville Row. This novel paints a stark contrast between insiders and outsiders, with material wealth and parental pressure providing potent external stressors.
In THE GIFTED SCHOOL, Bruce Holsinger creates an atmosphere of intense competition among parents in a Colorado town when word spreads that a new school will be opening with room for gifted students only. With contemporary, fast paced prose, this novel takes a heartbreaking look at what we’re doing to our kids in the name of getting ahead. Hannah Webber, a major character in THE NINE, is that type of mother. From a modest background with parents too busy to pay much attention, she works tirelessly for her son’s acceptance to a prestigious boarding school, to have ‘more” in life. Unfortunately, her drive is rooted in her own insecurity and wanting ‘more’ out of her own life.
ALL THESE BEAUTIFUL STRANGERS by Elizabeth Klehfoth, is about a young woman plagued by dark secrets in her family who joins a secret society at her New England boarding school. Her secret group called “The A’s” is intent on terrorizing the administration and faculty in much the way “The Nine” are. The trope our novels share is one of brilliant youth showing up the adults in charge, sticking it to the man, one where students become teachers.
Besides all the recent releases now in the world, there are the classic campus novels that can’t be missed. CATCHER IN THE RYE, A SEPARATE PEACE, and OLD SCHOOL come to mind. THIS BEAUTIFUL LIFE by Helen Schulman and TESTIMONY by Anita Shreve were two that influenced my conception of THE NINE. They are both campus novels that include a mother’s voice, of women who could only sit back and watch as their teenage sons made mistakes. Just as the litany of adolescent insecurities is a long one, the syllabus of great campus novels will last a lifetime.
I loved this panel at the Boston Book Festival!
Another campus novel (well, partially set on campus) that comes to mind is Commencement by J. Courtney Sullivan!
I enjoyed The Gifted School!
The Gifted School looks really good. It is in my TBR stack.
I actually seek out books set on campus. I enjoyed : The Sixes(Kate White), She Was the Quiet One(Michelle Campbell), and Prep(Curtis Sittenfeld). Thanks????
My favorite campus novel is old-school: Doctor Wortle’s School by Anthony Trollope. It is a little different from other Trollope novels in that it deals with issues that were shocking for the day.
Goodbye Mr Chips was a favorite of mine.
The Gifted School was my most recent campus read and my favorite!!
I really love Donna Tartt’s novels, especially the Secret History, which I’m glad to see you mentioned! I also enjoyed Prep, which I believe was written by Curtis Sittenfeld.
I loved Prep too!
Thanks for the chance. I didn’t read any novel sets on campus
Would love to read these books they sound absolutely amazing. My favorite book is the accursed by Joyce Carol Oates. It’s more of a gothic style book but it’s very modern and really good!
I find it so interesting that although the panel featured authors that wrote about various subject matter, there were actually many similarities identified between the stories!
I forgot to mention that my favorite novel set at a school was Harry Potter!
My favorite book set in a school is The Secret History by Donna Tartt.
Treasure Island, brilliant book.????
Great article and so true about college campuses being the perfect microcosm of life for novels! I’ve always loved Catcher in the Rye. ❤️
There are so many great books that take place at schools including Harry Potter.
My favorite novel set at school is The Maximum Ride Series! I read the set then introduced it to my daughter. She told her school librarian about it and they ordered several copies. It became a huge hit!!
I haven’t read any books that are set on campus but i love reading
I would have to say Harry Potter as a “school” series that I liked and that is out of the box for me!
I would love to win. I love books.
Only one i read Harry Potter series
I enjoyed The Gifted School but my favorite campus read (so far) is A Separate Peace by John Knowles.
A Separate Peace seemed to be really popular among readers–for good reason!
I loved Christi Phillip’s books, The Rossetti Letter and The Devlin Diary!
Favorite book set in school is Anne of windy populars by lm Montgomery
She Was the Quiet One was a good book with a school setting. Hoping to win! Ty!
I loved Christi Phillip’s books The Rossetti Letter and The Devlin Diaries
I loved If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio
My favorite campus based novel is Tell Me Everything by Cambria Brockman
I just finished reading The Nine. My husband went to boarding school when he was a young boy so I love reading about this topic. I’m looking forward to reading The Expectations.
I’m so glad you liked it, Yolanda! Thanks for reading!
I’d have to say Harry Potter, I cant think of any other school based novels that I’ve read.
I never really knew that the campus novel was considered it’s own sub-genre, but it is definitely one that I am fond of. Two of my favorites include A Seperate Peace and Dead Poet’s Society. There is something so timeless that everyone can relate to those back-to-school moments and nerves
I never really knew that the campus novel was considered it’s own sub-genre, but it is definitely one that I am fond of. Two of my favorites include A Seperate Peace and Dead Poet’s Society. There is something so timeless that everyone can relate to those back-to-school moments and nerves.
Rush is a favorite campus novel.
I’d say Catcher In the Rye for favorite!
My favorite campus novel has always been A Separate Peace, since my first reading in junior high. I have returned to it periodically and found subtleties that we’re unnoticed on previous readings. I’d love to try these, as my son-in-law is studying at Harvard Divinity and my son at UVA for grad school!
I love rereading and finding new meaning in books. That’s actually something I discussed in my most recent blog post. And I love A Separate Peace too!
The Secret History.