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Oligarchy
From the author of The Seed Collectors comes a darkly comic take on power, privilege, and the pressure put on young women to fit in--and be thin--at their all-girls boarding school
It's already the second week of term when Natasha, the daughter of a Russian oligarch, arrives at a vast English country house for her first day of boarding school. She soon discovers that the headmaster gives special treatment to the skinniest girls, and Tash finds herself thrown into the school's unfamiliar, moneyed world of fierce pecking orders, eating disorders, and Instagram angst.
The halls echo with the story of Princess Augusta, the White Lady whose portraits--featuring a hypnotizing black diamond--hang everywhere and whose ghost is said to haunt the dorms. It's said that she fell in love with a commoner and drowned herself in the lake. But the girls don't really know anything about the woman she was, much less anything about one another. When Tash's friend Bianca mysteriously vanishes, the routines of the school seem darker and more alien than ever before. Tash must try to stay alive--and sane--while she uncovers what's really going on.
Hilariously dark, Oligarchy is The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie for the digital age, exploring youth, power, and privilege. Scarlett Thomas captures the lives of privileged teenage girls, in all their triviality and magnitude, seeking acceptance and control in a manipulative world.
It's already the second week of term when Natasha, the daughter of a Russian oligarch, arrives at a vast English country house for her first day of boarding school. She soon discovers that the headmaster gives special treatment to the skinniest girls, and Tash finds herself thrown into the school's unfamiliar, moneyed world of fierce pecking orders, eating disorders, and Instagram angst.
The halls echo with the story of Princess Augusta, the White Lady whose portraits--featuring a hypnotizing black diamond--hang everywhere and whose ghost is said to haunt the dorms. It's said that she fell in love with a commoner and drowned herself in the lake. But the girls don't really know anything about the woman she was, much less anything about one another. When Tash's friend Bianca mysteriously vanishes, the routines of the school seem darker and more alien than ever before. Tash must try to stay alive--and sane--while she uncovers what's really going on.
Hilariously dark, Oligarchy is The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie for the digital age, exploring youth, power, and privilege. Scarlett Thomas captures the lives of privileged teenage girls, in all their triviality and magnitude, seeking acceptance and control in a manipulative world.
240 pages, Paperback
First published November 7, 2019
193 people are currently reading
5867 people want to read
About the author
Scarlett Thomas
32 books1,837 followersScarlett Thomas was born in London in 1972. Her widely-acclaimed novels include PopCo, The End of Mr Y and The Seed Collectors. As well as writing literary fiction for adults, she has also written a literary fantasy series for children and a book about writing called Monkeys with Typewriters. Her work has been translated into more than 25 languages.
She has been longlisted for the Orange Prize, shortlisted for the South African Boeke Prize and was once the proud recipient of an Elle Style Award. She is currently Professor of Creative Writing & Contemporary Fiction at the University of Kent in the UK. She lives in a Victorian house near the sea and spends a lot of time reading Chekhov and Katherine Mansfield.
She is currently working on a new novel and various projects for TV.
She has been longlisted for the Orange Prize, shortlisted for the South African Boeke Prize and was once the proud recipient of an Elle Style Award. She is currently Professor of Creative Writing & Contemporary Fiction at the University of Kent in the UK. She lives in a Victorian house near the sea and spends a lot of time reading Chekhov and Katherine Mansfield.
She is currently working on a new novel and various projects for TV.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 483 reviews
January 30, 2020
How to even talk about this book? Have I ever read a novel that was so funny and at the same time so deeply serious? The tone of Oligarchy is somewhere between Heathers and Scream Queens—so, dark and sometimes outrageous humor, but with a lot going on under the surface, in this case mainly concerning the messed-up food attitudes of contemporary women and girls. It was weird and disturbing and delightful. I need to go back and catch up on my Scarlett Thomas.
November 8, 2019
I have been a fan of the author for a long time as I think she is very original, her books are always sharply observed and humorous. ‘Oligarchy’ is classic Scarlett Thomas in that it pulls no punches but this thought provoking and dark tale is embedded in black humour which I love. This is a book about power and control and there several different ways that the girls we meet in the book are controlled.
The central character is Natasha, who is Russian and the daughter of an oligarch. She is sent to boarding school in England and I reckon this must be the worst one in existence! Here she is thrown into a world where there is a pecking order, a hierarchy whose rules are initially baffling, but where the outside world in the form of social media, especially Instagram is of paramount importance. The author clearly demonstrates how social media might pervert the minds of the impressionable into a certain way of thinking, that it has power and a hold in the same way as an oligarch heads a criminal organisation. How you look, what you wear, where you go are all judged, often harshly. Natasha encounters eating disorders which is the central theme as this has control over the girls and wields enormous power. Food or the lack of, is also an oligarch as calories are frantically countered and punishing exercise is undertaken as the obsession with being thin dominates them..However, there is also a physical oligarch too who controls the girls and their minds and Natasha sets out to unmask this oligarch. I found this very shocking when I realised exactly what occurs to the girls and how their minds are manipulated.
This book is very well written. The author has a very original way of writing and she is very funny. Some of the ideas the girls have such as that sherbet dib-dobs (we call them dib-dabs, sherbet fountains. I used to love the explosion of sherbet in my mouth!) are wholesome because they are old fashioned which made me laugh. The characters are mostly very likeable especially Natasha, and her Aunt Sonja and I also love Tiffanie with her glorious French accented English. However, the book has a flip side. There are moments of sadness as the girls strife to recover happiness, the thinner they become they lose their real selves. They may have light bodies but they have heavy hearts. Indeed, as the book progresses it gets darker and twistier as some of the girls see most things as pointless. I like the way we see into the mind of Bianca whose disappearance is the subject of Natasha’s investigation and Natasha herself. It feels authentic and how a young girl may reflect on the things that are happening around them and try to make sense of it. Natasha is heroic in lots of ways and she’s certainly the hero of this tale.
Overall, it’s a terrific but terrifying read. It is a no holds barred presentation of how people can be controlled which is very scary. It makes you think, you ask questions, it’s shocking, it’s funny, it’s mysterious, it’s sad, it’s rule breaking, it’s imaginative and very current. Many thanks to Cannongate and NetGalley for this ARC.
The central character is Natasha, who is Russian and the daughter of an oligarch. She is sent to boarding school in England and I reckon this must be the worst one in existence! Here she is thrown into a world where there is a pecking order, a hierarchy whose rules are initially baffling, but where the outside world in the form of social media, especially Instagram is of paramount importance. The author clearly demonstrates how social media might pervert the minds of the impressionable into a certain way of thinking, that it has power and a hold in the same way as an oligarch heads a criminal organisation. How you look, what you wear, where you go are all judged, often harshly. Natasha encounters eating disorders which is the central theme as this has control over the girls and wields enormous power. Food or the lack of, is also an oligarch as calories are frantically countered and punishing exercise is undertaken as the obsession with being thin dominates them..However, there is also a physical oligarch too who controls the girls and their minds and Natasha sets out to unmask this oligarch. I found this very shocking when I realised exactly what occurs to the girls and how their minds are manipulated.
This book is very well written. The author has a very original way of writing and she is very funny. Some of the ideas the girls have such as that sherbet dib-dobs (we call them dib-dabs, sherbet fountains. I used to love the explosion of sherbet in my mouth!) are wholesome because they are old fashioned which made me laugh. The characters are mostly very likeable especially Natasha, and her Aunt Sonja and I also love Tiffanie with her glorious French accented English. However, the book has a flip side. There are moments of sadness as the girls strife to recover happiness, the thinner they become they lose their real selves. They may have light bodies but they have heavy hearts. Indeed, as the book progresses it gets darker and twistier as some of the girls see most things as pointless. I like the way we see into the mind of Bianca whose disappearance is the subject of Natasha’s investigation and Natasha herself. It feels authentic and how a young girl may reflect on the things that are happening around them and try to make sense of it. Natasha is heroic in lots of ways and she’s certainly the hero of this tale.
Overall, it’s a terrific but terrifying read. It is a no holds barred presentation of how people can be controlled which is very scary. It makes you think, you ask questions, it’s shocking, it’s funny, it’s mysterious, it’s sad, it’s rule breaking, it’s imaginative and very current. Many thanks to Cannongate and NetGalley for this ARC.
August 12, 2020
3.5 stars
I started off really enjoying the first few pages and then began tiring of the looks and image obsessed storyline, which did continue but it won me over as the humour did make me laugh and I found the story so interesting, these privileged girls who where completely unprivileged in other ways and really had awful lives completely devoid of a loving family.
A group of looks obsessed girls at a private girls school talk constantly about clothes, boys, but mainly dieting so they can look good in clothes. They sit about and fantasise about food, bad food, the sort of food characters in a Ruth Galloway book seem to live off. They try many sorts of ways to lose weight, they want to be stick thin, they Google images to aspire to, some have anorexia, some bulimia. I did find the humour in this book amusing but I felt a bit uncomfortable being amused with humour coming from this problem. If someone reading this had experienced any eating disorder I could see how they might find this book upsetting and perhaps offensive. The girls did spend a lot of time discussing dieting tips and diet facts and 'inspirational' quotes like 'nothing tastes as good as skinny feels' etc. I don't think it's a good book for a teenager to read.
I enjoyed the look into their lives, the characters voices seemed authentic, I enjoyed the slight mystery, the strange teachers. I did find it unrealistic that just about every character in the story had an eating problem. Surely councillors were unrealistic? I was dissapointed that nobody in the book used healthy eating and exercise to lose weight. I felt sad the book seemed to suggest that you can only be a healthy weight if you eat lettuce. There were some refences to vegan food being used as a way of dieting. Vegan food can be healthy but could be something like chips so I would have preferred to see an emphasis on eating a healthy diet with plenty of vegetables and exercise. Much as I enjoyed elements of the book I was left wondering if this might give some unhealthy ideas about weight loss to some readers.
I started off really enjoying the first few pages and then began tiring of the looks and image obsessed storyline, which did continue but it won me over as the humour did make me laugh and I found the story so interesting, these privileged girls who where completely unprivileged in other ways and really had awful lives completely devoid of a loving family.
A group of looks obsessed girls at a private girls school talk constantly about clothes, boys, but mainly dieting so they can look good in clothes. They sit about and fantasise about food, bad food, the sort of food characters in a Ruth Galloway book seem to live off. They try many sorts of ways to lose weight, they want to be stick thin, they Google images to aspire to, some have anorexia, some bulimia. I did find the humour in this book amusing but I felt a bit uncomfortable being amused with humour coming from this problem. If someone reading this had experienced any eating disorder I could see how they might find this book upsetting and perhaps offensive. The girls did spend a lot of time discussing dieting tips and diet facts and 'inspirational' quotes like 'nothing tastes as good as skinny feels' etc. I don't think it's a good book for a teenager to read.
I enjoyed the look into their lives, the characters voices seemed authentic, I enjoyed the slight mystery, the strange teachers. I did find it unrealistic that just about every character in the story had an eating problem. Surely councillors were unrealistic? I was dissapointed that nobody in the book used healthy eating and exercise to lose weight. I felt sad the book seemed to suggest that you can only be a healthy weight if you eat lettuce. There were some refences to vegan food being used as a way of dieting. Vegan food can be healthy but could be something like chips so I would have preferred to see an emphasis on eating a healthy diet with plenty of vegetables and exercise. Much as I enjoyed elements of the book I was left wondering if this might give some unhealthy ideas about weight loss to some readers.
January 5, 2020
Oligarchy by Scarlett Thomas
If anyone can write the voice of a young adult in heart, spirit and dialogue, Scarlett Thomas can and has successfully accomplished this feat. I loved her dark humor and quirky style! This is an absolute brilliant writing with layers upon layers of adolescent bizarreness that is fun, addicting and menacingly, one hilarious read!
The story is centered around Natasha “Tasha” a young daughter of a Russian Oligarch who recently entered this English boarding school. Tasha immediately learns many issues going on In this school. One of which is how the girls are tormented by their misguided perceptions of what is beautiful. This has caused rampant eating disorders among the girls, and could be linked to some mysterious deaths over the years in the school.
Scarlett Thomas is original, creative, and brutally honest about the privileged and wealthy. I enjoyed the characters in this story for their quirk and uniqueness. The angst is palpable. It definitely gave me some laugh out loud moments.
Thomas wrote in a very detailed and vivid manner that took me through the characters’ inner thoughts and motives that made this one of the more unique books I have read In quite some time.
This is a highly entertaining and enjoyable read that I recommend!!
If anyone can write the voice of a young adult in heart, spirit and dialogue, Scarlett Thomas can and has successfully accomplished this feat. I loved her dark humor and quirky style! This is an absolute brilliant writing with layers upon layers of adolescent bizarreness that is fun, addicting and menacingly, one hilarious read!
The story is centered around Natasha “Tasha” a young daughter of a Russian Oligarch who recently entered this English boarding school. Tasha immediately learns many issues going on In this school. One of which is how the girls are tormented by their misguided perceptions of what is beautiful. This has caused rampant eating disorders among the girls, and could be linked to some mysterious deaths over the years in the school.
Scarlett Thomas is original, creative, and brutally honest about the privileged and wealthy. I enjoyed the characters in this story for their quirk and uniqueness. The angst is palpable. It definitely gave me some laugh out loud moments.
Thomas wrote in a very detailed and vivid manner that took me through the characters’ inner thoughts and motives that made this one of the more unique books I have read In quite some time.
This is a highly entertaining and enjoyable read that I recommend!!
December 15, 2019
The title is ambiguous. Natasha is Russian and her father is an “Oligarch” (from Greek “oligos” = ‘few’ + “archein” = “rule”), referring to the billionaires who got hold of the state assets of the former Soviet Union and now own all the football clubs and desirable residential property in England. I frankly couldn’t figure out what kind of book this is. Natasha is sent off to a really bad girls boarding school in England so I expected my favourite genre, a school story. This school is not very much like Malory Towers. The only things the girls take seriously are diets. They are obsessed with weight and anorexia is endemic. Not good at games; the “hockey heads” are confined to their own dorm though there is a brief mention of lacrosse sticks.) There are some amusing – in a strained sort of way – jokes. Tasha has an aunt Sonja, who gives her advice on diet and skin care. Also self defence, providing a spray called Red Heat. “If anyone attacks you, spray it in his face… It’s Russian. Be careful with it. Spray him first to stun him, then call me and I’ll have him killed.” Of course no school story would be realistic without crushes, but plan to steal a new word, “crushlet.” “A crushlet is a younger girl who wants to be you.” Can’t wait to use it in a story. Tasha’s gang are the “bad apples” and they “roll.” I’d never encountered “normcore” before, which actually would probably describe my wardrobe, though I’d prefer “classicist.”
There are some amusing puns on fractured French with the French girl Tiffanie. They have a Christmas play in French. They say the Hail Mary in French: “Je vous salue, Marie, plein du grâce, Le Seigneur est avec vous. There’s something in it about praying for poor fisherman.” And later, “Les pauvres pêcheurs. The poor fishermen.” If like Tasha you’re having trouble distinguishing pécheur and pêcheur, just remember peccator and piscator; circumflex indicates a missing s. The play on privé and privet school wasn’t as amusing, unless the school was surrounded by a hedge. I suspect at Malory Towers the girls would have used similar franglais to torment the French mistress.
Basically, Scarlett Thomas’s schoolgirls aren’t any more mature than Enid Blyton’s, but as this is “literary fiction” they’re filthy minded and potty mouthed, though their activities don’t go much further with actual boys. And we soon literally lose the plot. As so much of it depends on anorexia, which is not at all funny. On Amazon.co.uk this book is labelled as “literary fiction” but also as “business humour,” whatever that is.
There are some amusing puns on fractured French with the French girl Tiffanie. They have a Christmas play in French. They say the Hail Mary in French: “Je vous salue, Marie, plein du grâce, Le Seigneur est avec vous. There’s something in it about praying for poor fisherman.” And later, “Les pauvres pêcheurs. The poor fishermen.” If like Tasha you’re having trouble distinguishing pécheur and pêcheur, just remember peccator and piscator; circumflex indicates a missing s. The play on privé and privet school wasn’t as amusing, unless the school was surrounded by a hedge. I suspect at Malory Towers the girls would have used similar franglais to torment the French mistress.
Basically, Scarlett Thomas’s schoolgirls aren’t any more mature than Enid Blyton’s, but as this is “literary fiction” they’re filthy minded and potty mouthed, though their activities don’t go much further with actual boys. And we soon literally lose the plot. As so much of it depends on anorexia, which is not at all funny. On Amazon.co.uk this book is labelled as “literary fiction” but also as “business humour,” whatever that is.
did-not-finish
November 19, 2019I had wondered if Thomas's recent obsession with women's bodies and weight loss was something my interpretation was magnifying. Then I read this piece she wrote for the Guardian and realised that no, it really is there. Sadly, even more apparent here than it was in The Seed Collectors - there's something about fat or diets on almost every page. There may well be great things about Oligarchy but there's no way I'm putting myself through the incessant weight and self-image talk to find them. Her work is not for me anymore.
Review copy via Edelweiss.
Review copy via Edelweiss.
November 4, 2019
I have been a fan of Scarlett Thomas since reading her very first novel, so I was delighted to receive her latest, for review.
This is nothing like her previous novels, but a clever, darkly humorous, look at the lives of a group of girls at a private, girls boarding school. Our main character is Natasha (Tash) the daughter of a Russian oligarch, who is packed off, as though on a whim, to study in the UK. Tash is beautiful, rich and privileged, like the other girls in her dorm. Like them, she is also desperate to be thin, as are most of the school. Afternoon tea, we are informed, was stopped after literally nobody ever ate it…
Tash meets up with an Aunt Sonja, who she had never heard of before. Sonja is older, also rich and also obsessed with food – or, rather, with not eating it. Gradually, she attempts, in a slightly confused way, to impart some knowledge and advice to her young charge. She also helps her to understand the ways of her mysterious, distant father, who is a mystery to his young daughter.
Actually, Tash has enough mysteries to deal with. First of all, there is the disappearance of Tiffanie, after her visits to the Headmaster. Then Dr Morgan vanishes. With the girls vying with each other to gain ever thinner bodies, specialists are brought in to discuss eating disorders with the girls. Meanwhile, Tash needs to discover who she is and what is going on at the school.
This is a novel about self-discovery, of belonging, peer pressure, manipulation, competition and social media. What, ultimately, makes it work is not the sharp, biting writing, but the fact that you come to care about these characters. In the wrong hands, the reader might write off these precious, precocious young women – with their black credit cards, snobbish and judgemental views and bizarre diets. However, Thomas is aware that pain and confusion are there, regardless of wealth and privilege. A wonderful novel that I enjoyed every word of. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.
This is nothing like her previous novels, but a clever, darkly humorous, look at the lives of a group of girls at a private, girls boarding school. Our main character is Natasha (Tash) the daughter of a Russian oligarch, who is packed off, as though on a whim, to study in the UK. Tash is beautiful, rich and privileged, like the other girls in her dorm. Like them, she is also desperate to be thin, as are most of the school. Afternoon tea, we are informed, was stopped after literally nobody ever ate it…
Tash meets up with an Aunt Sonja, who she had never heard of before. Sonja is older, also rich and also obsessed with food – or, rather, with not eating it. Gradually, she attempts, in a slightly confused way, to impart some knowledge and advice to her young charge. She also helps her to understand the ways of her mysterious, distant father, who is a mystery to his young daughter.
Actually, Tash has enough mysteries to deal with. First of all, there is the disappearance of Tiffanie, after her visits to the Headmaster. Then Dr Morgan vanishes. With the girls vying with each other to gain ever thinner bodies, specialists are brought in to discuss eating disorders with the girls. Meanwhile, Tash needs to discover who she is and what is going on at the school.
This is a novel about self-discovery, of belonging, peer pressure, manipulation, competition and social media. What, ultimately, makes it work is not the sharp, biting writing, but the fact that you come to care about these characters. In the wrong hands, the reader might write off these precious, precocious young women – with their black credit cards, snobbish and judgemental views and bizarre diets. However, Thomas is aware that pain and confusion are there, regardless of wealth and privilege. A wonderful novel that I enjoyed every word of. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.
November 28, 2019
Scarlet Thomas can certainly write! Years ago, I read her books PopCo and the End of Mr. Y. Such different books--but each wonderful in their own way. Each of Thomas' books are unique; she doesn't repeat herself and Oligarchy is no exception. Quirky and fascinating, the story centers on Natasha, a Russian high school student just beginning (a week late) in an English boarding school.
The major focus at this school seems to be food--and eating disorders. Thomas looks at how adolescent girls look to find security in an unpredictable world in which adults seem to have abandoned their role as caregivers and guides. Tasha has recently been contacted by her long unknown father, a wealthy Russian "oligarch"--a member of a small group of people running a country. He is mysterious and powerful.
In its own way, Tasha's school is also an oligarchy, run by a small group of the most popular girls of her school. The girls are ruthless in the pursuit of a perfect body and the closer a girl approaches this idea, the more popular she becomes, at least envied by the others.
Thomas gives an astute analysis of a culture run by false values, consumerism, and superficial goals. These girls are searching for meaning in their lives and finding it in restricting calories.
Despite these serious concerns, the book is also very funny. Tasha's baffled but thoughtful reactions are both poignant and amusing; in fact, the whole focus on food becomes absurdly hilarious. But underneath the laughter is a real punch and message.
My thanks to the author, NetGalley, and Counterpoint Press for providing me with a copy of Oligarchy. My review reflects my honest reactions. I am very happy to have been given the chance to read and enjoy this excellent book.
The major focus at this school seems to be food--and eating disorders. Thomas looks at how adolescent girls look to find security in an unpredictable world in which adults seem to have abandoned their role as caregivers and guides. Tasha has recently been contacted by her long unknown father, a wealthy Russian "oligarch"--a member of a small group of people running a country. He is mysterious and powerful.
In its own way, Tasha's school is also an oligarchy, run by a small group of the most popular girls of her school. The girls are ruthless in the pursuit of a perfect body and the closer a girl approaches this idea, the more popular she becomes, at least envied by the others.
Thomas gives an astute analysis of a culture run by false values, consumerism, and superficial goals. These girls are searching for meaning in their lives and finding it in restricting calories.
Despite these serious concerns, the book is also very funny. Tasha's baffled but thoughtful reactions are both poignant and amusing; in fact, the whole focus on food becomes absurdly hilarious. But underneath the laughter is a real punch and message.
My thanks to the author, NetGalley, and Counterpoint Press for providing me with a copy of Oligarchy. My review reflects my honest reactions. I am very happy to have been given the chance to read and enjoy this excellent book.
November 17, 2019
What did I just read?
Who is this book for?
Thomas is one of my favourite authors ever... But this was so disappointing.
First Shannon, then Bardugo, now Thomas. It has been a bad year for my most anticipated releases.
Who is this book for?
Thomas is one of my favourite authors ever... But this was so disappointing.
First Shannon, then Bardugo, now Thomas. It has been a bad year for my most anticipated releases.
January 19, 2020
Scarlett Thomas’ Oligarchy is at once a coming-of-age, a murder mystery, and a love letter to young girls who have gone too far. Such is the case of Natasha, “Tash,” daughter of a Russian oligarch, who, deplaning from Moscow following unspoken events involving her father, finds a fellowship among a clan of privileged 15-year-olds battling eating disorders at an all-girls boarding school. Beneath the surface, legend has it that the ghost of its founder, Princess Augusta — who drowned herself after being defiled at the same age — still haunts the dorms, piquing Tash to unveil the myths of Augusta’s tragic life and death as rendered in paintings on the walls.
Through various dieting rituals, secret social media scavengings, and the morbid delight of feminine angst, Tash finds herself among this tribe of anorexic girls. Among them is Bianca, who “does not really tell anyone about the sadness and the failure and the light inside her that is a bright white colour but is never bright or white enough.” Bianca, who will take whatever dark path she must to be desired so, even if that means getting sent to the headmaster’s home, where “naughty girls” are put through “improving” activities. Then one day, the very darkness Bianca has been yearning for comes to claim her once and for all. However, the circumstances of her death — suicide by drowning — ripples suspicion through Tash and all the others. Something is awry.
Hassled by therapists who resemble pedophiles, a repulsive recovering anorexic, and the candid counsel of her Aunt Sonja, who tries to impart the blessings of beauty and all its false promises of protection, Tash wonders if her teenage heart is strong enough to bear the weight of the world around her. Unlike anything I’ve read before, Thomas beautifully contrasts the light and darkness of dangerous desires with a tenderhearted story for girls who push themselves to the precipice of perfection.
If you liked my review, feel free to follow me @parisperusing on Instagram.
Through various dieting rituals, secret social media scavengings, and the morbid delight of feminine angst, Tash finds herself among this tribe of anorexic girls. Among them is Bianca, who “does not really tell anyone about the sadness and the failure and the light inside her that is a bright white colour but is never bright or white enough.” Bianca, who will take whatever dark path she must to be desired so, even if that means getting sent to the headmaster’s home, where “naughty girls” are put through “improving” activities. Then one day, the very darkness Bianca has been yearning for comes to claim her once and for all. However, the circumstances of her death — suicide by drowning — ripples suspicion through Tash and all the others. Something is awry.
Hassled by therapists who resemble pedophiles, a repulsive recovering anorexic, and the candid counsel of her Aunt Sonja, who tries to impart the blessings of beauty and all its false promises of protection, Tash wonders if her teenage heart is strong enough to bear the weight of the world around her. Unlike anything I’ve read before, Thomas beautifully contrasts the light and darkness of dangerous desires with a tenderhearted story for girls who push themselves to the precipice of perfection.
If you liked my review, feel free to follow me @parisperusing on Instagram.
July 11, 2020
Okay, I know this is supposed to be satire/dark humor, but it just didn't sit well with me. I feel like it took the subject of eating disorders & sexual abuse way too lightly and it really ruined the book for me. There was little depth to the characters which made it far less interesting than it could have been. At least it was a quick read...
November 20, 2019
What has happened to one of my favourite contemporary writers? Sure, there are some very witty sentences in there, but nothing more. There is contempt for all characters, subplots don’t add to much. Overall the readers and the writer are not invested the characters... who is this for? Why??
dnf
August 12, 2022This is a Young Adult. I try two times to get into this book. I just really hated the characters, so I did not care want was going on. This book was just not for me. I won a copy of this book from a goodreads giveaway, but this review is 100% my own opinion.
December 12, 2019
Natasha is the daughter of a Russian oligarch who is sent off to a boarding school in classic London. She shares her dorm with girls alike : young, naive and privileged. When you gradually read, you'll notice this ain't the ideal hostel you'd want to end up in. Enveloped in antiquity, the environment is nothing like that of a cheerful mien. And if you read carefully, you'll find it rather ominous and menacing in a way that cannot be described by mere words. It's like the saying, "there's something in the air", something so indistinct that you can't put your finger on it.
Starting with the characters, at the central there's Natasha. She's the outside stimulus to this barricaded habitat, who acts like that one determining variable in a controlled experiment. She finds herself in a world she doesn't quite understand, and when she does, things had had already taken a twisted of turns. Surrounding her are the other inmates of the hostel : Bianca, Tiffanie, Lissa, Donya, Rachel. Their lives are bound together, as they derive their entertainment from the approval of the White Lady whose portrait hangs in front of the main staircase. Their everyday chores involve internet browsing, which is allowed mostly for an hour, consists of stalking celebrity profiles, not posting, and planning elaborate diet plans which they follow almost like a ritual. It is actually quite easy to dislike them if one misses to read between the lines.
I think what Oligarchy here really meant was not the similar backgrounds all these girls share. It's about the undaunted power that is held over them, making them clueless, lost, and superficial. Their normal does not coincide with the rest's, and it is only natural if you really think about it. The hostel is like a prison which holds them in, pushing them over the edge of normalcy blinded by fake privilege.
Oligarchy is humorously dark, poignant and blends in smoothly with the mind of the reader. It's like that exotic tea bag that needs to be dipped in hot, not boiling water slowly until it takes the color, yet the water remains crystal.
Starting with the characters, at the central there's Natasha. She's the outside stimulus to this barricaded habitat, who acts like that one determining variable in a controlled experiment. She finds herself in a world she doesn't quite understand, and when she does, things had had already taken a twisted of turns. Surrounding her are the other inmates of the hostel : Bianca, Tiffanie, Lissa, Donya, Rachel. Their lives are bound together, as they derive their entertainment from the approval of the White Lady whose portrait hangs in front of the main staircase. Their everyday chores involve internet browsing, which is allowed mostly for an hour, consists of stalking celebrity profiles, not posting, and planning elaborate diet plans which they follow almost like a ritual. It is actually quite easy to dislike them if one misses to read between the lines.
I think what Oligarchy here really meant was not the similar backgrounds all these girls share. It's about the undaunted power that is held over them, making them clueless, lost, and superficial. Their normal does not coincide with the rest's, and it is only natural if you really think about it. The hostel is like a prison which holds them in, pushing them over the edge of normalcy blinded by fake privilege.
Oligarchy is humorously dark, poignant and blends in smoothly with the mind of the reader. It's like that exotic tea bag that needs to be dipped in hot, not boiling water slowly until it takes the color, yet the water remains crystal.
February 10, 2021
Reading this book, it wasn’t the first time I thought it was absolutely necessary that book-covers contain trigger/content warnings.
And because so far they don’t:
A MAJOR CW: E**ING DISORDER and SA with this one!
I mean really... if you are sensitive to ED, SA and other related issues then try to leave this book out.
The story was full of potential. Posh british high school located in cold remote countryside, posh teen girls figuring themselves out, their family members from the über high society, Russian oligarchy, death, mystery. A perfectly chosen scenario for something that could have been satirical and amusing. However, a satire being made out of ED and SA didn’t sit well with me. Maybe I didn’t get it, and maybe the way Thomas made such issues look banal, is just problematic. Reading it, I found myself asking if she is actually fat-phobic or not. I want to believe she isn’t, but the vagueness of her stance disturbed me.
And there was plenty of space to turn it around, million of ways that would make the book more complex without loosing on it’s lightness. Millions of twists and turns the author could explore (Bianca’s family situation, Aunt Sonja’s background, the problematic teaching techniques and the Dr.Moon influence on them). Some books just ought to be a little longer.
That being said, I initially picked the book up after reading Dominika’s review in which she applauded Thomas for not being pathetic and awkward even when writing about millennial girls in high school. And rightly so. This is the first ever book set in high school which won’t make you eyeroll every four seconds.
3/5 as I actually still don’t know what to make out of S.Thomas “humour”. Aunt Sonja was by far the most interesting character and the rest of the book is either great or aboslutely inappropriate.
And because so far they don’t:
A MAJOR CW: E**ING DISORDER and SA with this one!
I mean really... if you are sensitive to ED, SA and other related issues then try to leave this book out.
The story was full of potential. Posh british high school located in cold remote countryside, posh teen girls figuring themselves out, their family members from the über high society, Russian oligarchy, death, mystery. A perfectly chosen scenario for something that could have been satirical and amusing. However, a satire being made out of ED and SA didn’t sit well with me. Maybe I didn’t get it, and maybe the way Thomas made such issues look banal, is just problematic. Reading it, I found myself asking if she is actually fat-phobic or not. I want to believe she isn’t, but the vagueness of her stance disturbed me.
And there was plenty of space to turn it around, million of ways that would make the book more complex without loosing on it’s lightness. Millions of twists and turns the author could explore (Bianca’s family situation, Aunt Sonja’s background, the problematic teaching techniques and the Dr.Moon influence on them). Some books just ought to be a little longer.
That being said, I initially picked the book up after reading Dominika’s review in which she applauded Thomas for not being pathetic and awkward even when writing about millennial girls in high school. And rightly so. This is the first ever book set in high school which won’t make you eyeroll every four seconds.
3/5 as I actually still don’t know what to make out of S.Thomas “humour”. Aunt Sonja was by far the most interesting character and the rest of the book is either great or aboslutely inappropriate.
October 18, 2019
No, just no. Maybe I've read about/seen too many young girls with eating disorders, but I think Thomas writes too lightly about this problem which turns a not very good book into even a worse one. I used to like her novels a lot. They had a nice mix of mystery, writing pace and excellent plots. Wonderful characters you would like have to become friends with as well. But in Oligarchy there's none of that: a weak plot, the characters are flat and unteresting (though I would like to have learned more about aunt Sonja) and the whole subject matter of eating disorders is definitely not taken seriously enough (neither is the #metoo aspect by the way).
Thank you Counterpoint and Edelweiss for the ARC.
Thank you Counterpoint and Edelweiss for the ARC.
May 6, 2020
Настраивалась на очередную историю об «этих странных русских», оказалось — campus novel про школу для девочек, где все мечтают похудеть.
Главная героиня — бедная русская девочка Наталья, «Наташа, как у Толстого», или просто Таш, у которой внезапно объявился папа-олигарх и вместо родительской заботы подарил ей путевку в Сибирь, то есть, простите, в Великобританию. Зачем вы все сюда приехали? — удивляется Наташа. Тут дёшево, — пожимает плечами парижанка Тиффани, звезда и объект подражания всей школы, девочка, которая заваливает тест по французскому «потому что не смогла прочитать описания заданий по-английски», всех товарок называет двумя именами (либо простым, либо уничижительным) и нарочно произносит doing как «дуанж». (Очень рекомендую аудиокнигу, где акцент мастерски имитируется самой писательницей.)
Кроме того, как выучить французский, у девочек одна задача — похудеть. Thinspiration, thinspo, ano; острые ключицы и выдающиеся скулы, тонкие щиколотки и узкие бёдра, ну, и говорить по-французски и кататься на лошади — больше никаких мечтаний.
Томас, очевидно отлично владеющая материалом, рассказывает, как по примеру одноклассниц девочки теряют вес и немного — разум, как перестают есть сначала сладкое, потом фрукты, потом вообще перестают есть, лишь бы быть похожей на условную тиффани или бьянку. Кто-то погибнет, а у кого-то очень стройного обнаружится 40% жировой ткани, и не понятно, какое событие больше шокирует пансионерок.
Я бы р��комендовала, если вам понравилось The Secret Place Таны Френч, а также если вы хотите понять что-то про современных подростков, но не очень любите жанр янг-эдалт. Что касается национального олигархического колорита, то русской клюквы тут не много, но чёрный «американ экспресс» и худая тетя Соня имеется.
(Было бы 3 звезды, если бы не скомканный финал)
Главная героиня — бедная русская девочка Наталья, «Наташа, как у Толстого», или просто Таш, у которой внезапно объявился папа-олигарх и вместо родительской заботы подарил ей путевку в Сибирь, то есть, простите, в Великобританию. Зачем вы все сюда приехали? — удивляется Наташа. Тут дёшево, — пожимает плечами парижанка Тиффани, звезда и объект подражания всей школы, девочка, которая заваливает тест по французскому «потому что не смогла прочитать описания заданий по-английски», всех товарок называет двумя именами (либо простым, либо уничижительным) и нарочно произносит doing как «дуанж». (Очень рекомендую аудиокнигу, где акцент мастерски имитируется самой писательницей.)
Кроме того, как выучить французский, у девочек одна задача — похудеть. Thinspiration, thinspo, ano; острые ключицы и выдающиеся скулы, тонкие щиколотки и узкие бёдра, ну, и говорить по-французски и кататься на лошади — больше никаких мечтаний.
Томас, очевидно отлично владеющая материалом, рассказывает, как по примеру одноклассниц девочки теряют вес и немного — разум, как перестают есть сначала сладкое, потом фрукты, потом вообще перестают есть, лишь бы быть похожей на условную тиффани или бьянку. Кто-то погибнет, а у кого-то очень стройного обнаружится 40% жировой ткани, и не понятно, какое событие больше шокирует пансионерок.
Я бы р��комендовала, если вам понравилось The Secret Place Таны Френч, а также если вы хотите понять что-то про современных подростков, но не очень любите жанр янг-эдалт. Что касается национального олигархического колорита, то русской клюквы тут не много, но чёрный «американ экспресс» и худая тетя Соня имеется.
(Было бы 3 звезды, если бы не скомканный финал)
February 28, 2020
I don't know what I expected from this book, but it definitely exceeded whatever I had in mind.
There's something about stories of people in boarding schools that really appeal to me, and Oligarchy so effortlessly captured the strange isolation of being in an environment where multiple characters are forced to interact with only the smallest segment of society around them.
The girls are mostly vindictive, snobby, nasty little madams, but what do you expect from a boarding school which clearly emphasises class disparities, barely addresses blatant eating disorders, and which is run by truly incompetent staff?
Perhaps one of the most appealing aspects of the book is it's interesting obsession with eating disorders, body image and the pressures faced by young girls in society. Although we are arguably moving towards a more tolerant "love yourself as you are" time, it's easy to believe how girls in such a unique situation would quickly spiral into these conditions, and reading about their thoughts, weird diets and obsessions over their weight was a really interesting insight to these mental disorders as a whole.
There are plenty of characters who stick out for the right reasons. Tash is an interesting Russian student whose father leads a shady life, Rachel is a "fat" girl who quickly becomes the envy of all as her eating disorder steps up a notch (excessive exercise as an eating disorder is well explained here) and there are plenty of other characters who help this novel feel rich and alive with their speech quirks, their obsessions over Estella from great Expectations and other really rich detail.
I absolute adore the weird little stories the girls tell each other - drowned princesses, dark gems, women ravished by sultans - it's exactly the sort of school lore that these institutions tend to have, and it created a wonderful atmosphere of childhood innocence against the dark realities of their everyday lives.
If I had to criticise something, I would say that the overall resolution of the novel is a bit underwhelming. I could of happily read so much more about these characters, and the wrap up of the story does seem a bit lacking somehow, but not enough to detract too much from the novel as a whole.
If you like quirky novels that also tackle very real issues, Oligarchy is one not to be missed.
4.5 stars
There's something about stories of people in boarding schools that really appeal to me, and Oligarchy so effortlessly captured the strange isolation of being in an environment where multiple characters are forced to interact with only the smallest segment of society around them.
The girls are mostly vindictive, snobby, nasty little madams, but what do you expect from a boarding school which clearly emphasises class disparities, barely addresses blatant eating disorders, and which is run by truly incompetent staff?
Perhaps one of the most appealing aspects of the book is it's interesting obsession with eating disorders, body image and the pressures faced by young girls in society. Although we are arguably moving towards a more tolerant "love yourself as you are" time, it's easy to believe how girls in such a unique situation would quickly spiral into these conditions, and reading about their thoughts, weird diets and obsessions over their weight was a really interesting insight to these mental disorders as a whole.
There are plenty of characters who stick out for the right reasons. Tash is an interesting Russian student whose father leads a shady life, Rachel is a "fat" girl who quickly becomes the envy of all as her eating disorder steps up a notch (excessive exercise as an eating disorder is well explained here) and there are plenty of other characters who help this novel feel rich and alive with their speech quirks, their obsessions over Estella from great Expectations and other really rich detail.
I absolute adore the weird little stories the girls tell each other - drowned princesses, dark gems, women ravished by sultans - it's exactly the sort of school lore that these institutions tend to have, and it created a wonderful atmosphere of childhood innocence against the dark realities of their everyday lives.
If I had to criticise something, I would say that the overall resolution of the novel is a bit underwhelming. I could of happily read so much more about these characters, and the wrap up of the story does seem a bit lacking somehow, but not enough to detract too much from the novel as a whole.
If you like quirky novels that also tackle very real issues, Oligarchy is one not to be missed.
4.5 stars
December 13, 2019
First of all: this book has potential. The story is not bad but it focuses too much on anorectic schoolgirls who find themselves fat and try to lose more weight. Nobody really seems to care when one of the girls dies and also the death of a teacher seems to be of minor interest. Maybe that’s the point but most of the time I thought while reading: what’s the point...
The end is not bad but it doesn’t make up for all the pages about eating and not eating. I’ve read books by Scarlett Thomas before and they always managed to fascinate me. This one, unfortunately, wasn’t able to meet my expectations.
The end is not bad but it doesn’t make up for all the pages about eating and not eating. I’ve read books by Scarlett Thomas before and they always managed to fascinate me. This one, unfortunately, wasn’t able to meet my expectations.
March 20, 2020
At an English boarding school, 15-year-old girls with body issues obsess over food and appearance. Tash is the daughter of a Russian oligarch who gets her a credit card and thinks nothing of giving her presents worth five figures. Her Aunt Sonja only reinforces her peers’ fixation on looks: “Do everything you can to keep your beauty. Exams are not important.” Although the school brings in nontraditional professionals to counsel the girls, a spate of anorexia still culminates in two deaths in the campus lake, but whether it is suicide or not remains unanswered.
This all sounds rather dark, but in fact Thomas’s tone is flippant, with zany metaphors (“His body is a sack filled with dead kittens and his skin is a dusty wooden antique”) that often employ food imagery and the girls communicating in Franglais. Her message about the difficulty of being a teenager in a world where every experience has to be prettied up for a selfie on Instagram is clear. However, the characterization is thin, there isn’t enough of an outside perspective on the eating disorders to keep the depiction from being irresponsibly blithe, and the overall feel is so acerbic that it grates. I enjoyed The Seed Collectors and will try some of Thomas’s older work, but I’m unlikely to recommend this one – unless you like your comedies very black indeed.
This all sounds rather dark, but in fact Thomas’s tone is flippant, with zany metaphors (“His body is a sack filled with dead kittens and his skin is a dusty wooden antique”) that often employ food imagery and the girls communicating in Franglais. Her message about the difficulty of being a teenager in a world where every experience has to be prettied up for a selfie on Instagram is clear. However, the characterization is thin, there isn’t enough of an outside perspective on the eating disorders to keep the depiction from being irresponsibly blithe, and the overall feel is so acerbic that it grates. I enjoyed The Seed Collectors and will try some of Thomas’s older work, but I’m unlikely to recommend this one – unless you like your comedies very black indeed.
August 22, 2020
I have been a fan of British author Scarlett Thomas for many years. She is a bit of an acquired taste for some readers but I took to her right away. Her latest is the story of a young girl, illegitimate daughter of a Russian mother.
Her birth father has just discovered her existence and has sent her off to private school in England. The father is the oligarch. She has never met him but suddenly she is catapulted out of her impoverished existence with her mother. He has showered her with money, gifts and a seemingly unlimited credit card.
So that is one oddball theme in itself. The real story at boarding school is how all these teenage girls develop eating disorders as they each try to be the thinnest one. Amid all that is a mystery about certain girls who disappear or die with a certain teacher being suspiciously involved. The plot catapults along while Natasha, the Russian heroine, gets advice from her father's sister on how to deal with it all.
Like most of the stories by Scarlett Thomas that I have read, the novel is equal parts heartbreaking and hilarious. The social commentary and the adventure of one female dealing with personal demons left me wondering how she would get through.
I loved it. Natasha survives and gets a clue, as in she starts eating again. I know, that might be a spoiler but how she escapes disaster is what matters. I could imagine that she would go on to have a good life, as do those of us who survive young adulthood.
Her birth father has just discovered her existence and has sent her off to private school in England. The father is the oligarch. She has never met him but suddenly she is catapulted out of her impoverished existence with her mother. He has showered her with money, gifts and a seemingly unlimited credit card.
So that is one oddball theme in itself. The real story at boarding school is how all these teenage girls develop eating disorders as they each try to be the thinnest one. Amid all that is a mystery about certain girls who disappear or die with a certain teacher being suspiciously involved. The plot catapults along while Natasha, the Russian heroine, gets advice from her father's sister on how to deal with it all.
Like most of the stories by Scarlett Thomas that I have read, the novel is equal parts heartbreaking and hilarious. The social commentary and the adventure of one female dealing with personal demons left me wondering how she would get through.
I loved it. Natasha survives and gets a clue, as in she starts eating again. I know, that might be a spoiler but how she escapes disaster is what matters. I could imagine that she would go on to have a good life, as do those of us who survive young adulthood.
June 4, 2019
I don’t have words at the moment. This book is astonishing. Must read stuff- it is a polished diamond with many sparkling faces.
December 1, 2019
I'm grateful to Canongate for a free advance e-copy of Oligarchy via Netgalley, to consider for review. (Quotes below come from that copy, and may not reflect the final text).
'Sometimes she also prays for peace, and joy, and to be thin. Sometimes she even prays for the villagers, that they might become thin too.'
The thing - one of many things - I like about Scarlett Thomas's books is that they always give something unexpected. There is no "just" to them. They are all recognisably hers, but they are also all very different and they all confound one's assumptions.
So Oligarchy is a book about a group of schoolgirls, with a mystery element, but little detection - and at the same time it's a book about the pressures modern society imposes on young women - and at the same time, a book about friendship and abuse. It's also funny, sad and truthful.
As I started the book - with Russian oligarch's daughter Natalya ('but at home they call her Natasha') coming to a scuzzy English boarding school in the Midlands - I thought it might take a fantastic turn. The village boys howl like dogs outside the school gates at night. This is not a metaphor, but it's not pursued (which boys? why?) There's also a distinctly gothic twist in the girls' mythology of the school, involving a drowning Princess, a Sultan and a diamond. The story hovers behind the action, inspiring various events and being embroidered in various ways but as with those howling boys there is no "official" explanation.
Later, with deaths occurring, and an interesting sounding detective (DI Amaryllis Archer, in her jeans and high-heeled boots) appearing on the scene, I wondered about the mystery element - but while it's there and is, eventually, resolved (kind of) that's not central either at least not in detail.
Central, rather, are the lives of the girls and the caustic, pressured expectations on them in modern society. Tash, arriving from Russia, the recently discovered daughter of an oligarch who has plucked her from obscurity and stored her away for safekeeping, is our way into the group, whose members deform almost before our eyes under the weight of those expectations. There is Bianca ('She doesn't tell anyone about the sadness and the failure and the light inside her that is a bright white colour but is never bright or white enough'). Tiffanie, who plans her funeral 'which will have a botanical theme' and who is 'too lazy, too French and frankly too fucking cool to learn English pronunciation' and whose usage of 'Ange' for English 'ing' becomes a meme among the girls. There is Becky 'with the bad hair', the would-be Head Girl.
Thomas's eye for character here is so sharp, getting right inside (Tash's Aunt Sonya 'looks like money rather than sex or love') and it's the way her ensemble of memorable, real people - most of them young women - reacts to the stresses on them that makes this book come alive and forms the gothic heart of the novel (with the oft-quoted story of Princess Augusta the topping, perhaps). There's an atmosphere of confinement, or abandonment, to this group in their strange school and of a breakdown of their sense of identity as they try to be - something. All manner of fake science, folk wisdom and wishful thinking swill around concerning what one should and should not eat, what one should be and not be. The the urge to thinness becomes almost a contagion in itself, with its own heroes and victims.
There is no restraint, no voice of reason, and a palpable sense of the girls being alone - this seems to be a singularly ill-run school where there is no help, typified by an episode where a vomiting bug has broken out and they are simply left alone, in a dormitory, to wait it out - but also very much exposed to the ill winds of social media, to the expectations of teaches, gym trainers and shifty DJs in provincial basement nightclubs. The paradoxes of teenage life - of innocence and experience ('at fifteen you have to practice everything you plan to do') - are played out here as in countless other novels, but with I think a rare sharpness of observation and deftness of portrayal ('Suze likes drinking in a pub called the Marionette ("drinking in" not "going to")')
Behind all this there are Tash's memories of home, of her mother, her boyfriend. Behind it are her doubts about her place in England, her place in the world, above all, about her place in her father's orbit. Having 'found' her he is elusive. Aunt Sonya seems to have been given the job of looking after Tash. Possibly her father wants to marry her off to the son of a business associate (there's a strange episode where she's helicoptered out to a party in a remote castle, but like many scenes in this book Thomas gives only glimpses of this, returning to it, though, several times to draw out different aspects). The run-down, dangerous feeling school doesn't feel like a good place to be trying to resolve these issues, without support or guidance - but maybe the slightly fantastical, out of this world bubble universe, the intense relationship and teenage concerns are a good balance for those family concerns?
Oligarchy is a fascinating, provoking, book, a deeply human book and I think shows Thomas on top form. I strongly recommend it.
'Sometimes she also prays for peace, and joy, and to be thin. Sometimes she even prays for the villagers, that they might become thin too.'
The thing - one of many things - I like about Scarlett Thomas's books is that they always give something unexpected. There is no "just" to them. They are all recognisably hers, but they are also all very different and they all confound one's assumptions.
So Oligarchy is a book about a group of schoolgirls, with a mystery element, but little detection - and at the same time it's a book about the pressures modern society imposes on young women - and at the same time, a book about friendship and abuse. It's also funny, sad and truthful.
As I started the book - with Russian oligarch's daughter Natalya ('but at home they call her Natasha') coming to a scuzzy English boarding school in the Midlands - I thought it might take a fantastic turn. The village boys howl like dogs outside the school gates at night. This is not a metaphor, but it's not pursued (which boys? why?) There's also a distinctly gothic twist in the girls' mythology of the school, involving a drowning Princess, a Sultan and a diamond. The story hovers behind the action, inspiring various events and being embroidered in various ways but as with those howling boys there is no "official" explanation.
Later, with deaths occurring, and an interesting sounding detective (DI Amaryllis Archer, in her jeans and high-heeled boots) appearing on the scene, I wondered about the mystery element - but while it's there and is, eventually, resolved (kind of) that's not central either at least not in detail.
Central, rather, are the lives of the girls and the caustic, pressured expectations on them in modern society. Tash, arriving from Russia, the recently discovered daughter of an oligarch who has plucked her from obscurity and stored her away for safekeeping, is our way into the group, whose members deform almost before our eyes under the weight of those expectations. There is Bianca ('She doesn't tell anyone about the sadness and the failure and the light inside her that is a bright white colour but is never bright or white enough'). Tiffanie, who plans her funeral 'which will have a botanical theme' and who is 'too lazy, too French and frankly too fucking cool to learn English pronunciation' and whose usage of 'Ange' for English 'ing' becomes a meme among the girls. There is Becky 'with the bad hair', the would-be Head Girl.
Thomas's eye for character here is so sharp, getting right inside (Tash's Aunt Sonya 'looks like money rather than sex or love') and it's the way her ensemble of memorable, real people - most of them young women - reacts to the stresses on them that makes this book come alive and forms the gothic heart of the novel (with the oft-quoted story of Princess Augusta the topping, perhaps). There's an atmosphere of confinement, or abandonment, to this group in their strange school and of a breakdown of their sense of identity as they try to be - something. All manner of fake science, folk wisdom and wishful thinking swill around concerning what one should and should not eat, what one should be and not be. The the urge to thinness becomes almost a contagion in itself, with its own heroes and victims.
There is no restraint, no voice of reason, and a palpable sense of the girls being alone - this seems to be a singularly ill-run school where there is no help, typified by an episode where a vomiting bug has broken out and they are simply left alone, in a dormitory, to wait it out - but also very much exposed to the ill winds of social media, to the expectations of teaches, gym trainers and shifty DJs in provincial basement nightclubs. The paradoxes of teenage life - of innocence and experience ('at fifteen you have to practice everything you plan to do') - are played out here as in countless other novels, but with I think a rare sharpness of observation and deftness of portrayal ('Suze likes drinking in a pub called the Marionette ("drinking in" not "going to")')
Behind all this there are Tash's memories of home, of her mother, her boyfriend. Behind it are her doubts about her place in England, her place in the world, above all, about her place in her father's orbit. Having 'found' her he is elusive. Aunt Sonya seems to have been given the job of looking after Tash. Possibly her father wants to marry her off to the son of a business associate (there's a strange episode where she's helicoptered out to a party in a remote castle, but like many scenes in this book Thomas gives only glimpses of this, returning to it, though, several times to draw out different aspects). The run-down, dangerous feeling school doesn't feel like a good place to be trying to resolve these issues, without support or guidance - but maybe the slightly fantastical, out of this world bubble universe, the intense relationship and teenage concerns are a good balance for those family concerns?
Oligarchy is a fascinating, provoking, book, a deeply human book and I think shows Thomas on top form. I strongly recommend it.
November 28, 2019
Scarlet Thomas can certainly write! Years ago, I read her books PopCo and the End of Mr. Y. Such different books--but each wonderful in their own way. Each of Thomas' books are unique; she doesn't repeat herself and Oligarchy is no exception. Quirky and fascinating, the story centers on Natasha, a Russian high school student just beginning (a week late) in an English boarding school.
The major focus at this school seems to be food--and eating disorders. Thomas looks at how adolescent girls look to find security in an unpredictable world in which adults seem to have abandoned their role as caregivers and guides. Tasha has recently been contacted by her long unknown father, a wealthy Russian "oligarch"--a member of a small group of people running a country. He is mysterious and powerful.
In its own way, Tasha's school is also an oligarchy, run by a small group of the most popular girls of her school. The girls are ruthless in the pursuit of a perfect body and the closer a girl approaches this idea, the more popular she becomes, at least envied by the others.
Thomas gives an astute analysis of a culture run by false values, consumerism, and superficial goals. These girls are searching for meaning in their lives and finding it in restricting calories.
Despite these serious concerns, the book is also very funny. Tasha's baffled but thoughtful reactions are both poignant and amusing; in fact, the whole focus on food becomes absurdly hilarious. But underneath the laughter is a real punch and message.
My thanks to the author, NetGalley, and Counterpoint Press for providing me with a copy of Oligarchy. My review reflects my honest reactions. I am very happy to have been given the chance to read and enjoy this excellent book.
The major focus at this school seems to be food--and eating disorders. Thomas looks at how adolescent girls look to find security in an unpredictable world in which adults seem to have abandoned their role as caregivers and guides. Tasha has recently been contacted by her long unknown father, a wealthy Russian "oligarch"--a member of a small group of people running a country. He is mysterious and powerful.
In its own way, Tasha's school is also an oligarchy, run by a small group of the most popular girls of her school. The girls are ruthless in the pursuit of a perfect body and the closer a girl approaches this idea, the more popular she becomes, at least envied by the others.
Thomas gives an astute analysis of a culture run by false values, consumerism, and superficial goals. These girls are searching for meaning in their lives and finding it in restricting calories.
Despite these serious concerns, the book is also very funny. Tasha's baffled but thoughtful reactions are both poignant and amusing; in fact, the whole focus on food becomes absurdly hilarious. But underneath the laughter is a real punch and message.
My thanks to the author, NetGalley, and Counterpoint Press for providing me with a copy of Oligarchy. My review reflects my honest reactions. I am very happy to have been given the chance to read and enjoy this excellent book.
March 23, 2020
I'm really torn between 4 and 5 stars but I can't torment myself over it anymore so I'll just say 5. I loved the sentences, the atmosphere and the characters. There were a lot of characters and because I took so long to read it I lost track of a few sometimes and when they popped up again I couldn't remember who they were. But in any case...I thought it was great!
November 3, 2019
An intricate black jewel of a novel. Weeks later I’m still thinking about it.
November 29, 2025
I am new to this author. The most interesting writing style I have read in a while...very unusual, almost like myth or poetry.
Though many comment on the humor, the contents are mostly dark and uncomfortable, centering around the eating disorder obsessions, hierarchies and activities of the girls at a boarding school, as well as the decay morally and physically of their surroundings. The point of the book seems oriented towards exposing some of these worlds (eating disorders, corrupt boarding schools, & the sideplot of Russian oligarchies) in a rather eccentrically creative, very darkly humorous way. The main character, Tash, winds up being a fine barometer for some of the rampant confusions of adolescence as well as, ultimately, the awareness and bravery that can come with the process. This at times herculean task is one where maturing means learning to heed the teensy inner voice that yearns to arise in the midst of immense pressure from peers which has outsized impact due to lack of caring, present parents.
Though many comment on the humor, the contents are mostly dark and uncomfortable, centering around the eating disorder obsessions, hierarchies and activities of the girls at a boarding school, as well as the decay morally and physically of their surroundings. The point of the book seems oriented towards exposing some of these worlds (eating disorders, corrupt boarding schools, & the sideplot of Russian oligarchies) in a rather eccentrically creative, very darkly humorous way. The main character, Tash, winds up being a fine barometer for some of the rampant confusions of adolescence as well as, ultimately, the awareness and bravery that can come with the process. This at times herculean task is one where maturing means learning to heed the teensy inner voice that yearns to arise in the midst of immense pressure from peers which has outsized impact due to lack of caring, present parents.
December 19, 2019
This was a weird one to rate, as it had some really funny interesting writing in it, but the whole premise was so nonsensical and flimsy it just didn't really make sense as a book. It also left me wondering whether I'd accidentally picked up some teen fiction, however you wouldn't want ANY teenager to read this as its full of so many tips for maintaining an eating disorder. It made me lol a few times but over all I'd categorise this as a mess.
November 2, 2019
I did NOT like this book, but forced myself to keep going because I had to review it. If you want a book that endlessly repeats the same problems, without any solutions, then this is for you. I’m unhappy I wasted so much time slogging through it...Keep reading on my blog to see why I gave this book just one star. https://shouldireaditornot.wordpress....
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