"A Great and Terrible Beauty" - Libba Bray

In the Victorian age when it is of the utmost importance for a young lady to be seen and not heard a young woman named Gemma Doyle struggles to thrive. She feels she has been banished to the rather unfashionable India, although she longs desperately to join society in England. After the shocking and scandalous death of her mother (that she foresaw in a vision) Gemma is placed in an English boarding school.

Here she meets and befriends the orphan Ann, the lively Felicity, and the tag-along but beautiful Pippa. All of whom are secret cast-aways. Together they discover how to use Gemma's extraordinary power, and try to piece together the mystery of the Mary Dowd's past and the downfall of the Order.

Amazon.com Review
A Victorian boarding school story, a Gothic mansion mystery, a gossipy romp about a clique of girlfriends, and a dark other-worldly fantasy--jumble them all together and you have this complicated and unusual first novel. Gemma, 16, has had an unconventional upbringing in India, until the day she foresees her mother’s death in a black, swirling vision that turns out to be true. Sent back to England, she is enrolled at Spence, a girls’ academy with a mysterious burned-out East Wing. There Gemma is snubbed by powerful Felicity, beautiful Pippa, and even her own dumpy roommate Ann, until she blackmails herself and Ann into the treacherous clique. Gemma is distressed to find that she has been followed from India by Kartik, a beautiful young man who warns her to fight off the visions. Nevertheless, they continue, and one night she is led by a child-spirit to find a diary that reveals the secrets of a mystical Order. The clique soon finds a way to accompany Gemma to the other-world realms of her visions "for a bit of fun" and to taste the power they will never have as Victorian wives, but they discover that the delights of the realms are overwhelmed by a menace they cannot control. Gemma is left with the knowledge that her role as the link between worlds leaves her with a mission to seek out the "others" and rebuild the Order. A Great and Terrible Beauty is an impressive first book in what should prove to be a fascinating trilogy. (Ages 12 up) –Patty Campbell