''A LABYRINTHINE MYSTERY OF EMOTIONAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL COMPLEXITY'' Jo Brand
''DELIRIOUS AND REWARDING'' Guardian
''UNMISSABLE'' Woman''s Weekly
Fleeing Scotland in the wake of family disgrace, 16-year-old Ida Campbell secures a scholarship at a failing girls'' boarding school on a remote part of the south English coast. Despite the eccentricities of her new Headmistress, who warns her of the dangers of the Cold War and the ever-present threat of the bomb, St Anne''s seems like a refuge to Ida. But all this is about to change. For a start, her new room-mate is the infamous Louise Adler, potential arsonist and hardened outcast.
Meanwhile, the geography teacher Eleanor Alston, in her late thirties, a disastrous love affair in her wake, faces the new term with weary resignation. But the fragile ecosystem of the school is disrupted by the arrival of a new teacher, Matthew Langfield. Eleanor has an uneasy feeling he is not who he says he is.
And things only get worse when a mysterious sickness starts to spread throughout the school, causing strange limb jerks and seizures among the pupils. What is happening to the girls of St Anne''s? Could there be a poisoner among them? Is Ida''s scholarship really an escape, or is it instead a new nightmare?
READERS ARE LOVING HAVOC:
''Superb. Brilliantly funny, at times extremely poignant'' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
''Another beautifully written book by Rebecca'' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
''Utterly glorious, moving, enthralling and witty. I am so cross I have finished it'' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
''I absolutely loved the humour in this book. Bonus points for the Cold War references'' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
''Entertaining and humorous'' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
