Introduction

Set in the backdrop of a prestigious all-girls boarding school, this provocative new novel from the “Miss Oliver’s School for Girls” series explores the personal lives of those within the school’s small community and the empowerment, strength, and resolve it must find in the face of a surprise adversary.

"Some are called to serve in schools. Some are called to write. Davenport is called to both" -Annie Dillard

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Excerpt

EIGHT

If anyone had asked Rachel if she still thought she had the right instincts for her job at this point, or whether she was in over her head, she would have wondered why the question had even come up. Gaylord Frothingham had assured her she was in good shape and that he’d taken care of everything. And even if she had known of Francis Plummer’s experience yesterday, she would assume that his loss of mojo was an aberration. Yes, she was disappointed in herself for hanging up on her husband without getting the details of the terrible thing that had happened in his Chicago office, but she trusted him to understand how disappointed she was to learn he wasn’t going to be home for their planned weekend together. She hadn’t predicted that the job would be easy, only that she was the right person to get it done.

She would have felt less assured, though, if she had known who was waiting in her office as she hurried back from teaching the one course she had retained since being made head of school. But she had no idea. The day was sunny, the sky an ethereal blue, the grass was green, still wet from the due, and she was pulsing with energy. She went through the front door of the Administration Building and down the hall toward Margaret’s anteroom. She and Margaret would plan the day, including setting an appointment with Francis Plummer for that afternoon.

But Margaret wasn’t at her desk. She was standing in front of the closed door to Rachel’s office. Her face was flushed, her hands clenched, up by her shoulders, and her normally pleasant voice a whole octave higher. “I could kill the bastard!”

“Margaret!”

“Amy Michaels’s father is in your office. At least that’s who he says he is. I told him to please wait until you get back, but he paid no attention and barged right past.”

“Wait a sec. You say Amy’s father? Mitch Michaels? The radio guy?”

“Yes, him. He actually put his hand on my shoulder and pushed me aside!”

“But there’s a court order that he can’t come on campus.”

“I know. That’s why I called the police.”

“The police! That’s the last thing we need. They’ll drag him away in handcuffs. He’s famous. It’ll get in the paper and on TV and all over the---.”

“Rachel, did you hear what I said? He put his hand on my shoulder. He pushed me aside!”

Years later, Rachel would still be amazed that Margaret had had to tell her twice. She was silent for a moment, visualizing a man shoving her friend out of the way. And then she said, “All right, Margaret, call the Hartford Courant. Tell them something very interesting is about to happen.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really.”

Margaret gave Rachel a look of joyous exaltation. Yes, they were sisters, Margaret and Rachel, partners. “I’ll go away for a few minutes to give the police and the reporter time to get here,” Rachel said, as Margaret gleefully reached for the phone. “Then I’ll come back.”

Maybe if Mitch Michaels, sitting on the sofa, waiting for Rachel to show up, knew who had painted the picture of the tree hanging above his head, he would have felt differently about Claire Nelson. Maybe he would have felt the same as he did feel, only more so. But he assumed the picture –which had drawn him to itself, right past the business-like chairs in the center of the office – had been painted by a professional.

Sitting there waiting, Mitch thought that if he were the boss of the Department of Education, he’d give every kid who liked to do art a test. The kids in the top one per cent would all be sent to art school. They’d become professionals. Like the artist who painted that tree. Not a dime would be wasted on anyone else. You just try telling him taxpayers should pay for someone’s hobby and see how far you get. But he was just being hypothetical: if Mitch Michaels were the boss of the Department of Education, the first thing he would do is close it down.

There was nothing hypothetical about the regret he was feeling though, for pushing that lady. Lost his cool. He was really sorry. He’d parked his car in the wrong parking lot. What, he’s supposed to be a mind reader? Where were the goddamn signs? “How do I get to the principal’s office?” he’d asked three kids walking side by side, arms linked. Do they all do that? he wondered. Walk around clinging to each other, like fleas on a dog? Does Amy?

They pointed the way. “Head of school, not principal,” one of them corrected.

What, principal wasn’t good enough for a private school? The very idea that he wasn’t allowed on here, that he was breaking the law, couldn’t visit with his own daughter – and then the secretary standing in front of the office door. Like a butler telling him to go around to the back. So he shoved her. Actually put his hand on her and pushed!

Nothing for it but to apologize. He owed her and he would. He would do it right now before the principal arrived and he delivered his ultimatum. He started thinking up the words, but the door opened before he could think of any, and Rachel Bickham entered.

Rachel was surprised he was so big and handsome in his blue suit and regimental tie, his blonde hair cut short, fifties style. She told herself not to panic, she could deal with his kind, and closed the door behind herself. He didn’t stand up. She waited some more, staring at him; he stared right back and didn’t move. She said, Mr. Michaels, you can’t just barge in here.”

“Really?” His lips made a tight little smile. “It seems I already have.”

She turned her back to him and went to her desk and sat down behind it as she would if he were not there, studiously ignoring him, and glanced out through the French doors for the police to arrive. A reporter too, she prayed: TALK SHOW HOST ARRESTED: TRESPASS AND BATTERY. She felt his eyes on her. There was a lot of silence.

“Wow, you are an angry person,” he said.

“It takes one to know one,” she said, her face still toward the French doors.

“You’re right. Birds of a feather.” His voice was dark and rounded with a hint of rasp, a perfect radio voice. “I understand you have started a new program here.”

She turned her face from the doors and stared at him.

“I think I’ll talk about it on my show.”

“Mr. Michaels, it’s not a program, it’s just one kid.”

“Really?”

Yes, really.”

“Well then, that’s what I’ll say: you make exceptions for girls like her.”

She’d never seen a more victorious smile than the one he shined on her then, as he watched her confusion. She didn’t know what to say, so she countered with: “Mr. Michaels, you’re breaking the law. I’ve called the police.”

“Oh goody. I’ll talk about that too.” He stood up and stepped to the French doors and looked out over the campus. “I hope they get here soon.” Then he whirled from the doors and leaned down and put his hands on the edge of her desk. He wasn’t handsome anymore. Little bubbles of spit hung in the corners of his mouth. “Jesus! You let her in,” he said. “A girl who does it with teachers. And in the same dorm as my daughter!”

Rachel pushed her chair back and stood up. She was tall too and wasn’t going to let anyone lean over her. “I decide who lives in what dorm, not you,” she said and realized right away she should have stayed in her seat so he could tower over the likes of her while she figured out a plan to cut off his balls and make him wish he were dead. Besides, it wasn’t even true. She didn’t decide who lived in what dorm. The dorm heads committee did.

“And I decide what to talk about,” he said. There was a knock on the door. Rachel ignored it. She guessed what was coming next. “So you can decide,” he said. “If you don’t want to hear it over the radio, you can kick her out. That’s a good deal for you – an easy way out. Her father’s in London and there’s lots to arrange. So I’ll give you a month.”

There was another knock. It seemed very timid. “Come on in,” Mitch Michaels called as if it were his office.

The door opened. A very small policeman entered. Rachel knew who he was: a neighbor of Margaret’s who had just graduated from the police academy. Theoretically, he was twenty-one years old, but he looked about fourteen to her. “Mr. Michaels?” he said.

“That’s me.”

“Come with me.”

Michaels grinned.

“Please.”

“Uh uh. My listeners would miss me.” Mitch Michaels moved past the little policeman, patting him on the head as he went. “You should join a gym,” he said. Then he turned around again and walked away, and the little policeman looked as if he were about to cry.

Rachel told Margaret to postpone her appointment with Francis. She had an emergency to resolve. view abbreviated excerpt only...

Discussion Questions

1. Consider the role Rachel Bickham plays in her first year as the head of Miss Oliver’s School for Girls. What are some of the strengths she brings to the position? What are some immediate obstacles standing in the way for her? For new heads, some schools hire a coach who is an experienced professional (often a former head of school) to provide advice behind the scenes. If you were that coach, what advice would you give Rachel?

2. In the first faculty meeting before school begins, one faculty member says that all the assistant dorm parents wanted to see Rachel together, to which Rachel responds, “I never meet people in groups.” What does Rachel accomplish in that scene? Why did Gregory van Buren approve of her response?

3. Boarding schools serve many purposes, with just one of them being education. What are some reasons why Claire Nelson enrolled intoMiss Oliver’s? What about Amy Michaels? How does a boarding
school impact friendships and relationships among classmates and
with teachers?

4. Claire’s past with Mr. Alford of her previous school provokes difficult discussions with varying perspectives among the adults of the book. What is the law’s position on this, and how does that position compare to the viewpoints of Rachel, Claire, and Claire’s father? Why do you think the adults’ views differ from Claire’s classmates’ views? Keeping in mind that the novel takes place in the early 1990s, do you think society has changed its perspective on this subject?

5. Though storied in his legacy and legendary as a figure in the school, what did Francis Plummer need from the school throughout his career than he never got? How did his time abroad in Italy affect his mindset of where his place was at Miss Oliver’s?

6. Contrast Francis Plummer to Gregory van Buren. What was his
standing at the start of the novel among the school faculty and
teachers, and how did it change? Why do you think his working
relationship with Rachel is so different from Francis’s relationship
with her?

7. Arguably one of the most controversial characters in this novel is
Amy’s father, Mitch Michaels. Thinking of his role as a radio show
host and as a father, do you have any sympathy for Mitch? Does he
have any admirable characteristics? What motivates him to range
an attack on Claire, even after meeting her and learning she is his
daughter’s best friend?

8. Aside from school politics, Rachel struggles with her long-distance relationship with her husband. Why do you think that distance changes relationships between spouses? How does that relationship compare to relationships between students and their teachers, like Claire and her father, or Amy and her parents?

9. Ms. Richardson secretly arranges a meeting that Rachel discovers and attends, to everyone’s surprise. What was the impact of Rachel’s presence and Amelia’s support of her? In what ways did it alter the course of the conversation and change the attitudes of the people at the meeting?

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