Forbidden love, boarding school, England - should be right up my alley, but I had a very hard time with this book. First, the writing was very irritating: no quotation marks, so the flow was interrupted by stopping to try to figure out who was speaking; and short, terse, but not particularly well -written sentences. It seemed very pretentious, like a new writer trying to be different. Second, there seemed to be no foundation for the passionate affair - our narrator is obsessed with every little detail of the headmaster's wife (Mrs. S), and suddenly Mrs. S reciprocates - no building of dramatic tension, no real character development.
I'd say don't waste your time trying to make it through. ( )

Not my usual read but always nice to step into the unknown and embrace a story and a situation very unfamiliar to me. An unknown Australian lesbian is working as a matron in an exclusive English boarding school for girls. Mrs S (we only ever know her initial) is the headmistress and oversees the operation of the school helped by Mr S. We very soon become aware of the matron’s sexual orientation as she becomes obsessed with the elegant Mrs S who surprisingly returns this affection. There is an unwritten sense of sexual tension and when ignited explodes in the pages of the book. I felt that these scenes were well expressed and not overtly sexual written in a way that kept the readers attention whilst slowly building to a somewhat predictable climax (no pun intended). Many thanks to netgalley for an advance ARC in exchange for an honest review and that is what I have written. ( )