Uncommon Education, An : A Novel
Author(s): Elizabeth Percer
For fans of Prep, Dead Poets Society, and Special Topics in Calamity Physics comes an elegant and remarkably insightful debut novel.
“A moving and bittersweet coming-of-age story about love, loss, friendship, ambition, and the power of memory." -J. Courtney Sullivan, author of Commencement, Maine, and Saints for All Occasions
Shy, introspective Naomi Feinstein has dreamed of a prestigious future in cardiology ever since her father’s heart attack scare. For her, becoming a doctor seems to be the only way she can create order in her messy life and perhaps one day save her mother, a deeply depressed woman who rarely has the strength to leave her own bedroom. Alienated at school, Naomi spends afternoons studying with her father, poring over textbooks, and dreaming of Wellesley College. But when her next-door neighbor Teddy, her confidant and only friend, abruptly departs from her life, it’s the first devastating loss from which Naomi is not sure she can ever recover, even after her long-awaited acceptance letter to Wellesley arrives.
But college is not all Naomi imagined it would be. Among hundreds of other girls, she is consumed by loneliness and competition where she had expected solidarity and security--until the day she sees a girl fall into a frozen lake.
This is Naomi’s introduction to Wellesley’s mysterious Shakespeare Society, the college’s oldest club, filled with secret rituals and the college's most unconventional and passionate students. Within “Shakes,” Naomi is finally able to open herself up to her peers, reflecting a little less and living a little more. Detaching from the past, replacing Einstein with Shakespeare, Naomi’s new world is exciting and liberating, until an accusation brings a scandal with irreversible consequences for Naomi and her new friends. Naomi has always tried to save the ones she loves, but part of growing up is learning that, sometimes, saving others is a matter of saving yourself.
Poignant and wise, An Uncommon Education is a heartbreaking and compelling portrait of a young woman’s quest for greatness, filled with the complicated ties of family and friendship, and the ultimate importance of learning to let go.
Review(s):
“Enticing and shyly perceptive.”
“[Naomi demonstrates] how to make the kinds of choices that eventually lead to an uncommon but joy-filled life.”
“Elizabeth Percer relates the life story of Naomi Feinstein with beautifully scripted, lush prose drawing in the reader and providing an unobstructed view deep into the hearts of her characters. . . . An Uncommon Education is rich in history, steeped in family tradition, and full of emotion-a lesson in practiced elegance.”
“Think Dead Poet’s Society or The Secret History.”
“A wistful debut novel by noted Bay Area poet.”
“A fine novel and a young writer to watch.”
“Three-time Pushcart nominee Percer offers an uncommonly good debut that’s finely detailed and emotionally gripping while avoiding every pitfall of the standard coming-of-age tale. Highly recommended.”
“Poet Percer’s fiction debut is an intimate portrait of an intelligent, tender girl with a deep wish to protect those she loves.”
“Bonds of love, family and friendship, sometimes damaged or beyond repair, are nevertheless celebrated in an intense debut by a noted poet. . . . [A] thoughtful coming-of-age tale that hovers observantly on the edge of melancholia.”
“Percer’s lyrical novel has much to offer.”
ISBN: 9780062110978