From Tom Dolby, the acclaimed author of The Trouble Boy, comes an extraordinary new novel a sensitive coming of age tale and a compelling work of suspense that explores the price of innocence betrayed and the complexities of personal truth.
When seventeen-year-old Ethan Whitley leaves his home in California for Berkley Academy, a prestigious Massachusetts prep school, he's a blank slate, a shy follower of rules in search of himself. Ethan is given the chance to start over when he is hand-picked by his wealthy, disaffected classmate, Todd Eldon, and a seductive, enigmatic teacher, Hannah McClellan, a free spirit for whom rules were meant to be broken.
Life with Todd and Hannah is a revelation, an invitation to a world of privilege and desire trips to a glittering, gritty New York City with its Fifth Avenue penthouses and artists' lofts; clandestine encounters in the graveyard near Berkley's wooded campus; and private meetings at Hannah's secluded house where they can drink wine and read Rimbaud, testing their limits and temptation in equal measure. Looming over these heady evenings is the disturbing mystery of Hannah's fragmented past, one that Ethan longs desperately to understand. As secrets are revealed, Ethan is pulled deep into the undertow of Hannah's history and Todd's longings. He learns that every deceit has a price, every lie an ugly truth, and that those he has come to trust are people he doesn't know at all. The most dangerous stories of all, though, may be the ones he has told himself.
Tom Dolby's new series from HarperCollins, Secret Society, debuted in October 2009, and includes the novels Secret Society and The Trust. Tom is the author of the bestselling novel The Trouble Boy and the boarding school novel The Sixth Form. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Village Voice, and the San Francisco Chronicle. Tom was born in London and raised in San Francisco, and is a graduate of The Hotchkiss School and Yale University. He currently lives in Manhattan’s West Village, where he is working on a new novel.
Four years ago, I read Dolby's first novel, The Trouble Boy, and while I enjoyed it, felt that it hewed so closely to much of what's already out there in gay literature that it failed to leave a lasting impression. But with The Sixth Form Dolby makes a quantum leap forward.
The story centers on the tangled relationships of three people over the course of one term at a posh New England prep school - Todd, the gay son of a wealthy New York author (in the vein of Danielle Steele or Jackie Collins), Ethan, the brainy [and straight] son of two middle class California intellectuals and Hannah, the unorthodox bohemian teacher who lures them into her orbit with her seemingly freewheeling attitude and her homebaked goodies. Most people might roll their eyes when they see that this is a "gay" novel that takes place in a private boarding school. And certaintly, the opportunity for cliches abound, but these are no stereotypes; they're complicated, down-to-earth characters with believable problems.
Dolby give the reader access to both Todd and Ethan's points of view, but lets Hannah's motives remain opaque. And because of this, I found myself drawn to her character in the same way the boys are - hungrily snatching at clues to her mysterious and tragic past. I'll admit to being impressed that a gay male writer took the time to create a three dimensional female character - even if she is clinging, deluded and predatory. It totally worked for me!
There's a lot of really good stuff here. Even the most minor secondary characters seem leap off the page - recognizable and fully formed. Todd's MILF-y mom and n'er-do-well dad, Ethan's saintly mother being devoured by disease, even the semi-closeted lesbian couple who teach at the school. The dialogue is very naturalistic. The interractions between characters are always revealing and enjoyable to read. Each scene moves along at a leisurely pace, but as a whole the book still reads quickly. And the story itself is a unique combination of love triangle (of sorts), mild suspense and coming of age.
When Ethan Whitley’s mom gets cancer, his parents believe it’s best he goes somewhere far for his senior year of high school. Thus, Ethan leaves California for the prestigious Berkley Academy. Before long, Ethan realizes he does not fit in. Then he meets Todd Eldon, a fellow classmate and Hannah McLellan, a seductive teacher.
When Todd Eldon and his girlfriend break up, Todd befriends Ethan. The school knows Ethan as the strange kid from California. Soon, the two become friends. Todd, however, realizes that he starts developing feelings for Ethan, but how could Todd ever compete with Hannah. Not too mention, Ethan is not gay.
Together, Ethan and Todd go through their senior year of high school, a time of change and discovery.
The Sixth Form is difficult novel to review. I enjoyed reading it, but looking back Tom Dolby could have delved so much into the characters, plot, etc. Dolby had a great start to all of his characters, but unfortunately it was only a start. I really would have liked to know more development from Ethan and Todd. Todd’s homosexuality never seemed like a main focus, even though Todd was definitely struggling with it. Ethan’s relationship with Hannah was interesting at first, but then I kind of pitied him. Hannah, who is in her 30s, more than took advantage of Ethan. Eventually, Ethan does end things (I’d call this a spoiler, but come on, you had to see that one coming!), but this was not near as satisfying as I thought it would be. Throughout the novel, Dolby hints about Hannah’s past. By the end of the novel, readers know about most of her past, but certainly not all of it. I found myself craving to learn more, but I just did not get that.
Having said all that, The Sixth Form was not really that bad of a novel. The book was pretty easy to get into, and the content itself was not the problem. The lack of content was the problem. Dolby set out to create a heartfelt coming-of-age story, but it feels like he got tired halfway through, so his greatness never truly materialized. Overall, however, I can certainly see myself reading more from him. I actually have The Secret Society, and I look forward to reading it, so there you go. :P
Not necessarily the coming of age story that I had expected but good nonetheless. Ethan is transplanted from his suburban California home to a boarding school on the east coast for his senior year of high school; he's just a little more than out of his element. Todd comes from a wealthy background but is attracted to Ethan who is everything he's not. Hannah is an English teacher who befriends the two boys. Todd is coming to terms with his sexuality and hopes Ethan will reciprocate. Ethan is seduced by Hannah. Ethan is attracted to Hannah but also aware that their affair should not be happening. Hannah's past rears its ugly head and the boys confront that reality. An interesting story in self discovery.
Not as dreadful as a one star rating might suggest but I just couldn't get on with it.
I didn't find the two main characters credible, the dialect was unconvincing and lacked continuity - perhaps this was by design to depict the awkwardness of teenage boys but they just seemed too naive to be convincing about pretty much every topic they discussed except literature, on which they seemed to be experts but perhaps this too was by design to indicate that they were awkward in life but fully conversant with academic subjects.
I got as far as a hundred pages but gave up as I lost any desire to know how the story might unfold.
A New England boarding school. Ethan and Tom find an uncommon friendship, although they are from different ends of the country and totally different cultural and family dynamics Each boy is drawn to the other because of their differences, one common and bookish, the other rich and popular. Both boys are singled out by Hannah, a beautiful teacher, who takes them into her world and confidence, creating a personal conflict that could tear their friendship and their lives apart!
This is actually a good book, although when I first began it I was a little wary of the topic.. now I'm glad I read it. It was interesting and to the point.
It's a coming of age novel about two 17 year old boys who are going to a boarding school in New England, Massachusetts; where they have to battle with alcohol, drugs, family life and sex. The two boys both come from very different backgrounds, one, Todd, is from a broken family. His parents are divorced and his mother is a now a very wealthy author. The other, Ethan, is from California where his parents are still married and live simple lives.
The subject matter of this book was really what I was wary of. At the risk of sounding narrow-minded, I wasn't and still am not interested in reading about homosexual intercourse. Thankfully, Dolby didn't write as graphically as some authors do; he wrote simply the events leading up to the act and the events following.
It was shocking that the parents in this novel were so accepting of the consumption of drugs and alcohol. They barely raised an eyebrow, except for Ethan's parents who live a more structured lifestyle.
Ethan is an interesting character. He's a very good student who mostly keeps to himself and has few friends. He gets trapped in a relationship he doesn't quite understand and he isn't able to get out of it.
Todd is also an interesting character, he's a boy who's got it all. Looks, wealth and most of all connections. He has to deal with something that makes him uncomfortable, something he wishes, at first, that he could change.
Hannah McClellan is a school teacher who has returned to Berkley boarding school. She is quite the character, with troubles that I never could've imagined from the beginning. I was truly surprised by all the deceit she was capable of.. and to what lengths she would go to keep something she really wanted.
All in all, it was a really well written novel.. worth the read :)
I read this book for work. I think Dolby is a gifted writer. I could not in good conscience write a negative review when the writing was so wonderful. I did personally have a difficult time with the subject matter itself. It was dealing with adolescent development. I may be niave but if the things he says are happening in this book are truly an accurate picture of teenage life then we should all be truly scared for the next generation. Sexual exploration in the extreme - two characters were sleeping with adults. Everyone was drinking and using multiple drugs. There was a parent in the book that was involved in a positive manner with their child. I know that all of these things happen but I was shocked and appalled by the magnitude of it. As a parent it made me feel a mix of paralyzing fear and gratitude that I live in Idaho. I certainly hope my almost a teenager daughter doesn't encounter this degradation at this level. I certainly don't want to read about a teenage boy discovering homosexual intercourse again. I know that may make me sound close minded but some images a brain just doesn't need! Of course, Dolby did not reach the graphic descriptions found in Running with Scissors!!! Unless you are searching for some how to have gay sex - don't read that book either! Both are tremendously written however!
This novel was very predictable. Basically a typical dramatic story of life behind the stone facade of a private school. You have the rebellious, indifferent boy who is secretly gay and the teacher who has affairs with her students. Ok, so maybe this didn't happen at your high school (didn't happen at mine, either, that I know of, anyway...), but with every turn of the page I could tell you what would happen even before I read it. The writing style itself was very dry and unemotional, and the author did a lot of "telling" instead of "showing". I felt very separated and distant from the characters and toward the end I was just reading to get to the final page. One last thing...I felt like the time sequences were off. Especially toward the end, when there were four weeks left of school...but the author kept saying "a few weeks later," "a few weeks later," "a few weeks later,"...to me it felt like we went through four months in that last four weeks of school. This was throughout the whole book, and kind of threw me off a bit.
I really enjoyed this book. Wow, that sounds like I'm in 3rd grade again and writing a book report. But sometimes, you don't need to go on and on to illustrate why you like a book. But I will a bit because I'm not in elementary school. The two characters were refreshing to read about. Both so different, yet overlapping in a few areas like most males do. Without noticing I was doing it, I was able to envision the settings. Sometimes I have to really pay attention to the descriptions and conjure something that fits. But not with this book...it just flowed and now i can still see Hannah's house in my mind. I can see the college campus. And I can visualize the other locations that were mentioned. Tom Dolby clearly has a wait for setting the scene. I love that the book wasn't handicapped by a neverending sense of doom. It was dark at times, and teased me with hints of a psychologically unsound female... but it all came full circle without chilling me at the core. I would definitely look into other books by Mr. Dolby. :)
I won this book through a Goodreads giveaway. I must say I was skeptical when I started it.
This book won me over from the very beginning. I had a very hard time putting it down.
This book is about 2 17 year old boys, Ethan and Todd, who are going to a boarding school in New England, Massachusetts. The boys are friends who come from completely different lifestyles. Ethan comes from a good home; his parents are still married and live their lives very simple. Todd on the other hand comes from a broken home, his mother is an author and is very wealthy.
This is a coming of age story where the boys battle with drugs, alcohol,family life and sex all while trying to go to school and maintain good grades to get into the universities of their choice.
This was my first Tom Dolby read, it definately will not be my last.
An exceptional coming of age novel, The Sixth Form presents a year in the life of two boys who discover themselves. They learn both from each other and their experiences over the course of their senior year in a New England prep school. The author, Tom Dolby, succeeds by rejecting the typical roles for the boys with young Todd, the jock, in the budding gay persona and Ethan, the artist from California, as a young man discovering his own decidedly hetero sexuality with a crazed teacher. The development of the characters and the vivid characterization of their family life contribute to the deft exploration of the world of these two teenage boys. The combination of insight into their world and the suspense that develops through the plot make this a good read.
Regardless of what predictability this may seem to have, I still really enjoyed reading this book and finished in a couple of days. I found the climatic moments (i.e finally sleeping together etc.) between Ethan and Hannah to be the slightest bit cloying. I felt for some reason that Todd could have had more play in the situtations going on between the two, rather than only after they fell prey to eachother. Hannah's past and eagerness, for the most part, finally being dragged out, I thought was brilliant. Because I found so much connection with the personalities in ths book, I can easily say it's one of my new favorite reads.
This is a very fine novel, one I have reread and enjoyed at a later date, but it appears that Tom Dolby has yet to write anything to match this, I hope he still will. Don't let the school setting put you off, it is a truer and much finer novel then Donna Tartt's overrated confection The Secret History about totally unbelievable university students, and has a much surer grasp of time place and character. Also it has stood the passing years well - always a good sign - when I quickly skimmed over it again before posting this review.
One of those books that you can't help but wonder how much is autobiographical. I guess I've read too much of that lately, so I wasn't charmed by it, or really able to ignore it.
A book about boys, high school boys at a private school finding themselves. Not as much chaos and sex as one would expect, the brutalities were somehow easy to let slide by as you continued on to find out what happened.
Won this book through a Goodreads giveaway. So predictable. I knew right away that Hannah was crazy and that she would fake pregnancy. I couldn't get attached to any character. Why Todd and Ethan were friends? They didn't seem to have anything in common. And for someone whose mother is dying of cancer, Ethan didn't think about her much. It should have been a much bigger issue in the story. It was so not an issue that I wonder why that element was in the story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Another atypical love story. Well-written and an easy rate so far.
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This was definitely an easy read and an interesting story of love, passion, longing with a touch of insanity. It's an often told story though and so the plot wasn't terribly original and it was predictable to a certain degree. But, it was well-written and kept my interest. I'm not very pleased about the ending though, I was somehow hoping that there would be more depth.
I really enjoyed this book. The complexities of th relationships came across as authetic and there was in it the timbre of yout coming into adulthood. A sense of innocence lost, not so much in a physical sense as in the realisation of the capacities of people to be other than what they seem. Beguiling and at the same time insane and threatening. The thread of the Hansel and Gretel story as a subject of Ethan's paintings seemed appropriate. It was a good story wll told, a great read
A great read about the lives of two boys and how each wants what the other has. The narative switches between the two main characters, Ethan and Todd. It focuses more on Ethan than Todd which sometimes makes you feel like Todd is being lost in the story but over all a great read that was interesting and nevever felt dull.
I enjoyed this book immensely. I thought that it was an interesting character twist that the popular guy is actually gay and the shy guy is straight. This dynamic makes for a very convincing, unusual, and powerful story about two friends. Tom Dolby's second novel is even better than his first. And is this author a dollface, or what?
Another "first-read". When I registered to get this book, my first thought was, "This sounds like a male version of "Prep"". A tale of a high school senior at a prep school, this book is much more focused than "Prep". Overall I enjoyed this book which explores how little you know about others, and the obstacles of finding yourself.
Decentish/workmanlike gay fiction - entertaining and real enough for me, as a prep-school brat: it was believeable. But one has only to compare this with Paul Russell's exquisite "The Coming Storm" to see the difference between the best and the merely good...on finding them both unsold in a box of novels I meant to unload, I kept the Russell and sent this back on to another secondhand bookstore.
I wanted this book to be better than it was. Predictable story, no steam, very little depth of character. Where is the contemporary meaty (not a pun) gay male novel that is worthy of being included in my gay lit class?
An excellent read for fans of "A Separate Peace", The Sixth Form is the story of two young men at a New England prep school, best friends, one straight, one gay, who become embroiled in the twisted fantasies of a female teacher.
This book was a nice, quick read once I actually sat down with it. A fairly standard coming of age tale that doesn't gloss things over. Hannah seemed a tad... unreal to me but overall this was very enjoyable
A very quick and easy read. Some of the story was dark and unsettling while at the same time knowing it could be very real on so many fronts. All in all a good book.
Didn't like this one as much as Dolby's first book. The description of a New England boarding was picturesque and the description of all the food in the book will make you hungry while reading it.
While I did find the characters somewhat likeable, I just couldn't get into this book. The story was very predictable, lots of cliches, and I did not enjoy the writing style at all.