It's one thing to learn to curtsy properly. It's quite another to learn to curtsy and throw a knife at the same time. Welcome to Finishing School.
Fourteen-year-old Sophronia is a great trial to her poor mother. Sophronia is more interested in dismantling clocks and climbing trees than proper manners–and the family can only hope that company never sees her atrocious curtsy. Mrs. Temminnick is desperate for her daughter to become a proper lady. So she enrolls Sophronia in Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality. But Sophronia soon realizes the school is not quite what her mother might have hoped. At Mademoiselle Geraldine's, young ladies learn to finish…everything. Certainly, they learn the fine arts of dance, dress, and etiquette, but the also learn to deal out death, diversion, and espionage–in the politest possible ways, of course. Sophronia and her friends are in for a rousing first year's education.
Set in the same world as the Parasol Protectorate, this YA series debut is filled with all the saucy adventure and droll humor Gail's legions of fans have come to adore.
Reviews
“Starred Review Set 25 years before her Parasol Protectorate series, Carriger’s YA debut brings her mix of Victorian paranormal steampunk and winning heroines to a whole new audience…While the prototype plot isn’t fully developed, Carriger’s series starter more than makes up for it with cleverly Victorian methods of espionage, witty banter, lighthearted silliness, and a ship full of intriguingly quirky people.” Booklist
“This genre-blender will introduce fans of Ally Carter's Gallagher Girls and Jennifer Lynn Barnes The Squad to a world of mechanical maids and flying machines, while bringing a spy-school romp to readers of the weightier worlds of Cassandra Clare and Scott Westerfeld.” Kirkus Reviews
“Absolutely charming, comical, and full of whimsy. I wish I could attend a school as fun as this finishing academy, with its host of endearing, headstrong characters. It is the perfect steampunk version of Harry Potter” — author of the Legend trilogy – Marie Lu
*“Readers will love the well-developed characters and the quirky charm imbued into every page, and will eagerly await the sequel!” Romantic Times
*Carriger's leading lady is a strong, independent role model for female readers…Ladies and gentlemen of propriety are combined with dirigibles, robots, werewolves, and vampires, making this story a steampunk mystery and an adventure mash-up that is sure to intrigue readers who can get past the language of the time period." Library Journal
Author Biography
“New York Times "bestselling author Gail Carriger writes to cope with being raised in obscurity by an expatriate Brit and an incurable curmudgeon. She escaped small town life and inadvertently acquired several degrees in Higher Learning. Ms. Carriger then traveled the historic cities of Europe, subsisting entirely on biscuits secreted in her handbag. She resides in the Colonies, surrounded by fantastic shoes, where she insists on tea imported from London. The Parasol Protectorate books are: "Soulless, Changeless, Blameless, Heartless, " and "Timeless.” “Soulless” won the ALA's Alex Award. A manga adaptation released in Spring 2012 and a young adult series set in the same universe – the Finishing School series – launched in Spring 2013. Gail is soon to begin writing a new adult series, The Parasol Protectorate Abroad (2015).