Well, this was a find in the bottom of my TBR pile! Set largely in a private girls' school in Scotland, at first it appears that the story is about Kate Carr and her manipulation and the power games she plays with the misfit girls at her school. Told in Kate's very strong first-person narrative voice, it is soon clear that she is an unreliable narrator (my favourite) and is leaving out important information. Some of this is purposeful, but most of it is because she either doesn't know stuff, or doesn't understand what she knows. When Kate goes home, we immediately recognize that she is being manipulated and psychologically abused in a similar way by her father. He is a mesmerizing preacher, and one of the creepiest characters I've met in any book this year. Tension grows as Kate brings home Lydia, the new girl, who is captured under creepy-dad's spell. The publisher has labelled this novel "mystery," but although I would describe it as "mysterious," I would label it "psychological thriller" instead.

The book's weakness is that there were a few too many mean girl scenes, and the scenes were overly detailed, which made them plodding and repetitious. I also would have liked to learn more about her father, and what I think was his break-away Calvinist cult. But other than that, this was a great read. This novel earns solid reviews from critics and readers, but there are only 29 copies in LT, which means a lot of people are missing out on a book they'd probably like. I will definitely look for more books by Penelope Evans in the future.

Recommended for: First Fruits seems like the sort of book that would be nominated for the Orange Prize, so if you like those sorts of books, find yourself a copy. ( )