Dark Academia Archives

S./Ship of Theseus

by Doug Dorst, J.J. Abrams

This novel-within-a-novel has been one of the most unique experiences of my reading life. I had so much fun buddy reading this with MMD team member Leigh; we could not stop Voxing about these characters! The story alternates between two graduate students and unfolds through their written notes in the margins of the book they’re both obsessed by. They have their theories, research, own family dramas, plus a budding relationship to contend with, but also a sinister someone hot on their heels who doesn’t seem to particularly want them to uncover the secrets. My favorite part of this read was all the ephemera like maps and postcards and letters actually tucked into the physical copy of the book. It adds to the story sure, but mostly, it made me feel like an academic myself, satisfyingly sifting through documents in a dusty library trying to solve the mystery of an author whose identity has never been confirmed.

Catherine House

by Elisabeth Thomas

If a school seems too good to be true, it probably is. The prestigious Catherine House offers free tuition, room, and board in exchange for students living completely removed from the outside world for three years. At first, it's the closest thing to home Ines has ever experienced but then things take a tragic turn and she finds herself questioning everything in this Gothic literary suspense debut.

If We Were Villains

by M.L. Rio

I love a mystery that starts at the end. We know that Oliver Marks has just been released from jail after serving a ten year sentence, and he's finally ready to tell the truth. Ten years ago, Oliver was part of a close-knit group of Shakespearean actors at Dellecher Classical Conservatory, where rivalries and romance affect the troupe off stage with just as much drama as their performances. Their final year reads more like one of Shakespeare's tragedies. When violence erupts, the group tries to find out what happened while covering the truth to protect each other. A campus mystery full of Shakespeare references, perfect for fans of Donna Tartt.

The Secret History

by Donna Tartt

The story begins with a murder, and the lonely, introspective narrator devotes the rest of the novel to telling the reader about his role in it, and how he seemingly got away with it. The setting is a small Vermont college, the characters members of an isolated, eccentric circle of classics majors, who murder one of their own. Strongly reminiscent of The Likeness in setting, Crime and Punishment in plot, and Brideshead Revisited in tone. I finally read this recently, and now I understand why opinions differ widely on Tartt's debut novel: it's a compelling—and chilling—tale, but there's not a single likable character.

The Maidens

by Alex Michaelides

A highly discussable psychological thriller set on an iconic British campus. This twisty mystery begins when Mariana, a group psychotherapist grieving the recent death of her husband, receives a frantic call from her niece Tara saying her friend and floormate has been murdered. Mariana travels to investigate—and soon, what began as concern escalates into obsession as she draws from what she knows of human behavior to uncover the murderer in their midst. The clues lead her straight to the charismatic Classics professor Edward Fosca and his secret Cambridge society known as the Maidens, but proving the case might destroy her. Be mindful of the obvious triggers that accompany a murder mystery, plus self-harm and brief graphic scenes. I hated the controversial ending, but I would dearly love to discuss it with my book club.

The Group

by Mary McCarthy

Cosmopolitan calls this modern classic novel about the lives of eight upper-middle-class friends "juicy, shocking, witty, and almost continually brilliant."

Special Topics in Calamity Physics

by Marisha Pessl

The narrator is Blue van Meer, a teenager who has been moving from town to town with her father ever since her mother died, accompanying him to each of his short-term professorial stints at tiny liberal arts colleges across the country. Her senior year of high school, her father declares they will spend the whole year in one place, and Blue falls in with an enigmatic teacher and a hand-picked group of students she's gathered around her. The whole book is strongly reminiscent of The Secret History, yet despite this I still didn't see that big left turn coming. Smart, snappy, and interesting.

Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution

by R. F Kuang

When MMD Book Club hosted Peng Shepherd in August to discuss The Cartographers, Peng raved about this new fantasy release from the author of The Poppy War trilogy (which I haven't yet read, should I?). It's a cool 545 pages in hardcover, and WOW does she put every one to good use. The publisher calls it “a thematic response to The Secret History and a tonal response to Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell”—if that sounds a little cerebral for you, don’t worry, it’s easy to get swept up in the story. Since I began I've found myself talking about it ALL THE TIME to all sorts of readers. Kuang's historical fantasy takes place primarily in 1830s Oxford, where the workers at the translation institute Babel literally fuel the British Empire by combining their language skills with precious silver bars. The comparisons to Harry Potter are inevitable—and it IS a good pick for adult readers looking to scratch that itch—yet Kuang's work is decidedly different in approach. While I loved the academic setting and band of four fast friends, her engagement with the complexities of race, power, and privilege are what really ground the novel. There's also a lot of philosophizing about the art of translation and discussion of what the practice actually involves, which I found insightful and fascinating (especially in light of my recent stack of translated reads).

Never Let Me Go

by Kazuo Ishiguro

An eerie take on the coming-of-age theme. Ishiguro expertly combines speculative fiction and literary fiction to great effect. I talked about my love for this one in Volume III of One Great Book. Haunting and atmospheric, with a sad truth that dawns on you gradually. Ishiguro slowly introduces the reader to three teens in a 1990s British boarding school. His prose says so much while revealing so little, as it slowly dawns on the reader what is not-quite-right about these children's lives.

I Have Some Questions for You

by Rebecca Makkai

Jennifer Egan, author of Candy House says, "Part boarding school drama, part forensic whodunit, I Have Some Questions for You is a true literary mystery—haunting and hard to put down." I loved it for the narrative voice, which felt exactly right for this twisty and conflicted campus tale. At the story's opening, professional podcaster and erstwhile professor Bodie Kane is summoned back to her New Hampshire boarding school to teach a short course on podcasting for high school students. She tasks them with creating their own podcasts for the course, and—even though she knows she shouldn't—she pushes the students to create a true crime show investigating the long-ago murder of a Granby School student, who happened to be Bodie's roommate back then. Smart, timely, and unputdownable. I also recommend this on What Should I Read Next Episode #360: A high-stakes family reading competition.

The Shadow of the Wind

by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

This atmospheric novel is built around a literary mystery: who is Julián Carax, and why is someone systematically burning his books? After I got oriented I couldn't turn the pages fast enough: I loved the post-war Barcelona setting, the rich cast of characters, and the surprising twists and turns the story took. The plot description reminds me of personal favorites The Thirteenth Tale and The Distant Hours. From Entertainment Weekly: "Wonderous... masterful... The Shadow of the Wind is ultimately a love letter to literature, intended for readers as passionate about storytelling as its young hero." This is a lifetime favorite of several readers I know with great taste.

Ace of Spades

by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

From the publisher: "When two Niveus Private Academy students, Devon Richards and Chiamaka Adebayo, are selected to be part of the elite school’s senior class prefects, it looks like their year is off to an amazing start. After all, not only does it look great on college applications, but it officially puts each of them in the running for valedictorian, too. Shortly after the announcement is made, though, someone who goes by Aces begins using anonymous text messages to reveal secrets about the two of them that turn their lives upside down and threaten every aspect of their carefully planned futures. As Aces shows no sign of stopping, what seemed like a sick prank quickly turns into a dangerous game, with all the cards stacked against them. Can Devon and Chiamaka stop Aces before things become incredibly deadly?"

Picnic at Hanging Rock

by Joan Lindsay

In this short Australian classic, a group of girls from the Appleyard College for Young Ladies venture out for a picnic at Hanging Rock on a beautiful afternoon. Three of the girls set out for a hike, and are never seen again. As I was reading this short novel, it strongly reminded me of something I'd read before, but I couldn't figure out WHAT. I finally realized it wasn't a book at all—it was the TV show Lost! (If that's not a recommendation, I don't know what is.)

Edinburgh

by Alexander Chee

From the publisher: "Twelve-year-old Fee is a shy Korean-American boy growing up in Maine whose powerful soprano voice wins him a place as section leader of the first sopranos in his local boys choir. But when, on a retreat, Fee discovers how the director treats the boys he makes section leader, he is so ashamed, he says nothing of the abuse, not even when Peter, Fee’s best friend, is in line to be next. The director is eventually arrested, and Fee tries to forgive himself for his silence. But when Peter takes his own life, Fee blames only himself. Years later, after he has carefully pieced a new life together, Fee takes a job at a private school near his hometown. There he meets a young student, Arden, who, to his shock, is the picture of Peter—and the son of his old choir director."

Shadow of the Lions

by Christopher Swann

Ten years ago, Matthias’s roommate and best friend Fritz ran away from Blackburne School into the woods and was never heard from again. He’s feeling stuck and a job offer from his alma mater to teach English sounds like it might be a chance at a fresh start. Once there, he feels compelled to figure out what really happened to Fritz their senior year. Part literary thriller, part coming-of-age tale, you’ll be fully drawn into the world of elite boarding schools and secrets upon secrets.

The Hawthorne School

by Sylvie Perry

Modern Mrs Darcy Book Club Community Manager Ginger picked this as one of 20 Dark Academia novels for moody fall reading. From the publisher: "Claudia Vera is overwhelmed. She's a single parent trying the best that she can, but her four-year-old son, Henry, is a handful--for her and for his preschool. When Claudia hears about a school with an atypical teaching style near her Chicagoland home, she has to visit. The Hawthorne School is beautiful and has everything she dreams of for Henry: time to play outside, music, and art. The head of the school, Zelma, will even let Claudia volunteer to cover the cost of tuition. The school is good for Henry: his 'behavioral problems' disappear, and he comes home subdued instead of rageful. But there's something a bit off about the school, its cold halls, and its enigmatic headmistress. When Henry brings home stories of ceremonies in the woods and odd rules, Claudia's instincts tell her that something isn't quite right, and she begins to realize she's caught in a web of manipulations and power."

Possession

by A. S. Byatt

Two scholars research the lives of Victorian poets Randolph Henry Ash and Christabel LaMotte. Through letters, journals, and poetry, Ash and LaMotte come alive for us. Through parallel plotlines, two love stories unfold as we get to know all four characters.

Old School

by Tobias Wolff

From the publisher: "The protagonist of Tobias Wolff’s shrewdly—and at times devastatingly—observed first novel is a boy at an elite prep school in 1960. He is an outsider who has learned to mimic the negligent manner of his more privileged classmates. Like many of them, he wants more than anything on earth to become a writer. But to do that he must first learn to tell the truth about himself. The agency of revelation is the school literary contest, whose winner will be awarded an audience with the most legendary writer of his time. As the fever of competition infects the boy and his classmates, fraying alliances, exposing weaknesses, Old School explores the ensuing deceptions and betrayals with an unblinking eye and a bottomless store of empathy. The result is further evidence that Wolff is an authentic American master."

Smoke

by Dan Vyleta

Entertainment Weekly calls this "Part Dickens, part dystopia and totally immersive." The premise is fascinating: "In an alternate Victorian England those who are wicked are marked by the smoke that pours out of their bodies. The aristocracy are clean, proof of their virtue and right to rule, while the lower classes are drenched in sin and soot. Thomas Argyle is the only son of a wayward aristocrat. Charlie Cooper is his best friend. When Thomas finds himself under the boot heel of a sadistic headboy in the treacherous halls of their elite boarding school, he and Charlie begin to question the rules of their society. Then the boys meet Livia, the daughter of a wealthy and powerful family. She leads them to a secret laboratory where they learn that smoke may not be as it seems, and together they set out to uncover the truth about their world."

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