Olivia

Sent from England to a finishing school near Paris, sixteen-year-old Olivia encounters a world of art, literature, and unfamiliar emotional possibilities. She becomes captivated by Mademoiselle Julie, a charismatic teacher whose attention transforms her experience of school. Olivia's admiration develops into an attachment she cannot easily separate from the excitement of her new surroundings. Yet the adults around her have rivalries and vulnerabilities she does not fully understand. Told through the lens of first love and youthful perception, this short novel explores the intensity of a schoolgirl's feelings for an older woman, and the tension between her private hopes and the troubled relationships around her.