My latest grievance
(Books)

Now her pitch-perfect new novel, set in 1978, introduces us to the beguiling Frederica Hatch. Born and raised in the dormitory of a small women’s college, and chafing under the care of “the most annoyingly evenhanded parental team in the history of civilization,” Frederica is starting to feel that her life is stiflingly snug. “I had no intention of blending in. I wanted to be who I’d become, the Eloise of Dewing College, the full-time residential expert in an institution that others occupied only fleetingly.” Into this cozy world comes Miss Laura Lee French — a wannabe former Rockette and the new dorm mother at the college where Frederica’s parents teach and live. Laura Lee proves to be the enthralling and glamorous antithesis of the Hatches, whose passion for liberal political causes is all-consuming — even Frederica’s Barbie dolls have been anatomically corrected. As Frederica says, “The timing was excellent . . . Just as I was craving more attention, along came Laura Lee French, dorm mother without a day job, single, childless, and ultimately famous within our gates.”