Thanks to NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

An excellent slow-burn gothic novel. Before reading, remember that it’s layered and a slow build. Taking place at a top-league girls boarding school on a windswept peninsula in Scotland, the setting is as much a main character as the people in it.

Rose is the new Classicist teacher, and in her 20s, the youngest by a couple decades. She can’t believe her extraordinary luck in getting plucked from anonymity to head a department at such a storied school. However, from her first moments on the foreboding grounds and massive edifices, she feels something isn’t quite right.

The girls don’t seem interested in learning, but it’s more than that. They find it more odd that Rose (Madam, as every female teacher must be called) isn’t aware that their learning doesn’t matter. The reason why is what gives this gothic novel its haunting atmosphere.

Fans of gothic tales will enjoy Madam. I should probably note that this isn't a PNR/Fantasy book, however, the whole time I was reading I kept thinking this story gives me the feelings of Harry Potter and The Worst Witch.

This book was done a great disservice on Netgalley by being categorized as women’s fiction. I almost passed it by, but gothic mystery grabbed my attention, especially with this being October and all and sure enough…definitely not women’s fiction. I mean, it’s written by a woman and features primarily all female cast, so maybe technically, but not in any way that matters. What this book is…is a work of feminist dystopian fiction, handmaids in boarding school. Because so much of feminist dystopias concentrate on reproduction rights, so usually features women, maybe of a certain age, this one takes it back to teens. Why not start early in the game and get every advantage. Why not shape the perfect wives of tomorrow today? That actually can be a slogan for Caldonbrae. An atmospherically forbidding old world boarding school establishment set in the atmospherically forbidding Scottish highlands. Remote, strict and dedicated to providing a very specific sort of education, Caldonbrae’s goal is to turn out the perfect wives for the man who can afford them, the upper echelons of society, etc. But, of course, it’s a discreet establishment that protects its secrets. So when our protagonist, a young teacher, gets offered a job there, it initially just seems too good to be real. Financial circumstances being what they are, dire, she has no choice but to accept the position and comes to live and teach the challenging difficult girls there and then slowly she uncovers the truth of the place and once she knows it, has to decide whether it’s something she can possibly tolerate or something to rebel against. You know it’ll go somewhat incendiary, because the novel starts with the fire. But you have to read it to find out the whys and hows and aftermaths. And this is why this book must not be dismissed as women’s fiction…it’s good and smart and alarming. It tackles ideas, not insipid romances or reproduction. It actively takes on The Stepford Wife scenario and goes to the source, goes wild with it, really. The best thing about this book is how effective it is in the warped logic and arguments behind the Caldonbrae’s ideology. The girls are systematically brainwashed into assuming traditional conservative roles the society has ascribed to them for centuries to such a degree that they don’t even think to question, mostly. It takes one outsider, one educator of Classics, to start a revolution of a sort, to ignite liberal thinking, to challenge the norms. The use of Classics is very clever here too, it showcases traditional female roles in history and mythology (so basically victims or whores or manipulators) and the tragic ends they came to and extends that thinking to the present day, a subject ideal for extrapolating, teaching, igniting fires. There’s a reason feminist dystopias are on a rise lately, the reason arguably the most famous of them all got a sequel last year after all this time, women’s rights (such as they are) are a relatively recent thing and seem to be constantly under attack and yes I am writing this as one of the world’s largest democracies currently contemplates revisiting abortion subject. Seriously. Why and how can this still be something to question in this day and age? This is supposed to be the future. So it’s all eerily timely and scary and important to read about, to talk about. This book definitely brings something new to that table. It’s original, well written and oh so dark, especially the ending. Definitely a worthy read. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.

I realize the courage and perseverance it takes for anyone to write a novel. Therefore, I always read at least 25% of any book I start. Once I got that far in MADAM, I stopped reading. The novel has potential but the writing is muddy and old-fashioned (at first I thought the old-fashioned language was conveying that the novel was taking place long ago - only to find out that the novel is set in the 1990s). There were also odd insertions of stories from mythology just sort of plopped in the middle of chapters. this one wasn't for me.

In Madam, Rose Christie is mid-twenties classics teacher, who's offered a dream job at an upscale girls' school in Scotland. I love stories set in girls' schools, and the isolated campus was perfect. This is a creeping gothic novel where everything is just a little off,  but the protag has the practicality that comes from classroom teaching and the example of her historical women, from Dido to Medea.

Other teachers make vague references to the important things their girls are doing, and the extra lessons they're taking, and promise that everything will be explained soon. Really soon. Not right now, of course, just keep teaching lessons.  There are these constant gothic hints that something is very wrong at this posh boarding school and something very dark is happening just off-screen, blended with some snotty students rolling their eyes and telling Rose that she really doesn't know anything yet.

As Rose discovers what's actually happening at her new job, there's an even creepier investigation about who is complicit and connected, and what everyone around her is getting out of working or studying at Caldonbrae Hall. A lot of the students are legacies, all are from upperclass, well-connected families, and some of graduates stay on in cushy teaching or "pastoral" roles. Seems like (almost) everyone around Rose just loves the school community.

This novel is an absolute page-turner, because I was so desperate to figure out just what Rose had gotten herself into and especially what had happened to the previous classics teacher.

Light a fire they can’t put out…

This story takes place in Scotland. High on a cliff, stands Caldonbrae Hall. Built 150 years ago by Lord William Hope to become a boarding school for girls. He had a lot of them. With names like Temperance, Charity, and on and on.

The goal of the school is to turn out girls who are educated and ready to fulfill their role in society.

When Rose, a young Classics teacher is hired to work there she is shocked by the invitation and honored, as she is the first new hire in about 10 years.

At this point, you want to ask yourself why. And it will become abundantly clear.

The girls are not at all interested in learning anything and there is quite a mystery over Rose’s predecessor. She may or may not have had an inappropriate relationship with a student or she may have just moved, no one will say and the girls aren’t even looking at her.

Rose should have listened to her own instincts and never come to Scotland, but now she’s in and it is made clear that she is going nowhere. With overt threats about her mother and the town people hating all of them, she is truly alone.

At first, I thought maybe this was a ghost school. Where everyone is dead except Rose. The girls were rude and cruel to her and each other. When they finally tell her why they are all there, she is horrified and sets out to right the situation.

I have to say I did not care for Rose at all. She was rather slow in the beginning and I thought about skipping to the end as it just plodded along.

This may be a great Netflix, Handmaid’s Tale type of thing but the book itself bored me to death. This isn’t feminism at all. More like sex trafficking.

NetGalley/ May 18, 2021, St. Martin’s Press

Madam by Phoebe Wynne is a great slow-burn mystery and suspense novel that kept me on edge until the bitter end.

I enjoyed the Stepford Wives-esque concept and tone to the book that let the main character, Rose, and the reader know that there was just something not quite right with how all the girls and staff were acting at this eerie, isolated, and formidable all-girls school. I loved that the author took us back to the 1990s where one can remove the encroachment of technology, creating an even greater feel of isolation and solitude.

I loved the slow, tension-building plot, where one felt just one step behind everyone else. The urge to know and take control that was just slightly out of Roses’s grasp was an excellent touch.

I really enjoy these type of books that give a psychological suspense to them. It was definitely entertaining and will appeal to any mystery and suspense novel fan.

5/5 stars

Thank you NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for this ARC and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication.

Rose is a young teacher, with only a few years of teaching under her belt when, out of the blue, she’s offered the position of Head of Classics at an exclusive girl’s boarding school. Caldonbrae is located in the remote wilds of Scotland, and the school is so exclusive that they haven’t hires any new staff in over a decade. Why would they hire a young, inexperienced teacher to be head of department? Rose soon discovers that the school has no intention of teaching the girls to take an active role in society after graduation, instead they are being groomed to be wives, mothers…..servants. Should Rose stay and try to help these young women or should she escape…..while she still can

While this book nailed the creepy sense of foreboding and the gothic atmosphere, it took quite awhile to get going. It became frustrating waiting for a grasp of what was going on, and then when the reveal came, it was really pretty unpleasant, and not much fun to read. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this ARC for review.

This book is atmospheric psychological mystery that is absolutely engrossing. I highly recommend it. I love boarding school books , they are my favorite location for thrillers.

Madam, by Phoebe Wynne was an intense, dark novel. Caldonbrae Hall has been teaching young women of wealth for 150 years and hadn't hired a new teacher in a decade when they hired young Rose Christie to teach Classics. She quickly becomes aware that something is wrong at the school and that the teacher who had the position before her had left under some unusual circumstances. She is not being told everything about the school and when she questions she is told that she will understand later, when her probationary period is over. The revelations that come are apalling, but there is nothing that she can do about it...or is there?

I believe that this is a novel that you will either love or hate. I loved it. It's a dark, gothic novel with many old fashioned ideals that seem outrageous in today's world. Although I would have liked to see Rose retain some of the strength that she had in the beginning of the novel and fight for what she believed, I was happy with the ending...and the way the author set up for a possible sequel. I think this would make an amazing series or movie.

Thank you to the author, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in return for my honest review.

This is a very slow burn, which will appeal to some and turn off others. I had a general sense of foreboding throughout the book, even in the beginning. This really kicked into gear around the 60% mark. Discussing the secret would be giving way too much away. However, I will say that some of the commentary from the men in the book was so outdated (and, therefore, gross) that it made my stomach churn.

The one thing that didn’t really work for me was the inclusion of the ancient stories. It was fine in the context of the classroom, but it was a bit strange to end some of the chapters with the stories themselves. Don’t get me wrong; I like them, it just didn’t really work. Aside from that, I liked this book more and more as my discomfort grew.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC. This review contains my honest, unbiased opinion.

A young teacher is recruited by a boarding school in Scotland to teach classics to a set of privileged girls but the seemingly outdated institution soon begins to pressure Rose to conform and become a part of the horrifying cult-like system of sexist education.

I'm sorry for my review but only because it is exceeding honest.

Spoilers*
This book exasperated me utterly. It wasn't the prose or the idea, I think those were good but the implementation was just lagging.
Oh my goodness this protagonist! I dispised her so much. She was riculoulously naive and frankly stupid most of the time. How could I possibly root for her at all? She had no courage or voice or fight and in the end it wasn't even her who did absolutely anything about the school, it was her students-her teenage students who finally had the guts to act unlike her absolutely nonsensical docile behaviour. She just kept being pushed down and down and had no spine. If she was just so efficiently blackmailed then atleast show me the rage in her privately, in her flat or when she's alone. She would've struggled yes, but she just kept being accepting of everything, every time something happened. If it was shock, where was her moment of reckoning? Her monent of regaining control? It never came.

She was a really bad main character, the book should've turned it around and made the 4th years the protagonists. That would work a lot better unless Rose is changed to have some sort of back bone, please please give this woman some fight.

And also could the other teachers/staff not tell Rose she is being 'dramatic' every 5 seconds. It was almost all they ever said to her, at every turn "Rose omg the drama, chill girl, it's just a regular old cult alright? Things will calm down once you let them overtake your mind. Jeez Rose, enough theatrics, just let them indoctrinate you"

The girls were the only saving grace, as much as I enjoyed the idea of the novel. It just wasn't executed well in terms of the plot- 50% of the book (the first half) seemed like the exposition, that's way, way too long to wait for any real information to be presented. And then Rose was just naivety central and hopeless. Then the girls fought back and did what they had to, finally! I think it's good writing, just not a good story-telling? I wish this story was better because it has all the elements to be.

Stepford Wives go to boarding school...Wynne does an excellent job depicting the archaic life of those at Caldonbrae Hall. I was shocked and in awe with the story.

I'd get in line quickly to see this book made into a movie.

A young woman is hired to teach classics at a girls boarding school on the coast of Scotland. When she arrives, she finds many circumstances she cannot understand or accept. She begins to teach some of her younger teenage students the Greek tragedies and about the women in them. The older students tended to ignore her classes but the younger ones became engrossed in them. Caldronbrae Hall had it’s own system of discipline and way of life. It was all tremendously different than that offered by State schools. Rose, the protagonist, was not well able to deal with it. The novel is sometimes difficult to read, sometimes tedious and sometimes riveting. All in all, I found it to be quite well done and certainly different than most psychological dramas. Thanks to Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC for an honest review.

This book occurs at a creepy boarding school...very atmospheric indeed !! It was full of twisty turns and unexpected delights. A thrilling little gem of a ride. I was on the edge of my seat. The character development could have been better but I still enjoyed it.

I was provided a digital copy of Madam by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

As a big fan of mysteries set in boarding schools, I was prepared to enjoy this book and I have to say I was not disappointed. Rose Christie has been offered a job as a department head at the prestigious Caldonbrae Hall, a private girls’ boarding school in Edinburgh. The school hasn’t hired outside of its ranks in decades; Rose is their first new hire which is both suspicious and exhilarating for the young Latin teacher. It’s also a greater amount of money than she ever expected which will allow her to continue paying for her mother’s care as her multiple sclerosis symptoms intensify.

Initially Rose is rather taken with Caldonbrae, affectionally referred to as Hope in honor of its founder, but she finds immediately that she does not quite fit in. She finds herself stumbling over the students and bungling her conversations with the other staff, all of whom are referred to simply as Madam or Sir. However, as she struggles to settle in, Rose starts to ask questions about the curriculum and the way the girls are expected to behave. She finds that the atmosphere in general is oppressive and the girls devoid of individual thought. The longer she stays at Hope, the more Rose wonders if she’s made the right decision until one of the girls opens up and lets one of her secrets slip. Suddenly Rose knows she needs to get out but is it too late?

I finished this book in the space of two days and quite enjoyed its twists and turns. The plot shifts as well as the ending were unexpected and enjoyable, the author working them in carefully and thoughtfully. However, the inclusion of the original Greek myths and their lengthy explanations detracted greatly from the reading and did not add enough to the story to warrant being included. As well, it is important to note the heavy and unexpected inclusion of sexual themes and descriptions in the book.

I was a little unsure of this novel going in but this year I have enjoyed several books with a haunted type mansion but the idea of another boarding school book I was still unsure.

Either way, I started reading. Rose is a teacher raised by a feminist mother who suffers from MS.

She is offered the chance to teach at the prestigious Caldonbrae Hall, a boarding school in Scotland.

Rose soon realizes all is not what is appears at Caldonbrae. the students speak different and she soon realizes the school offers an education of a different kind- arranged marriages!

Overall, I enjoyed the book and I always love books set in different locations for their atmosphere and vibes it creates. The 1990s also gave it a different feel which I enjoyed.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advanced ebook copy. I probably wouldn't have picked up this book without the publisher but I'm glad I did.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of Madam.

I was intrigued by the premise and was thrilled when I was offered an opportunity to read Madam early.

In 1993, Rose Christie is a young, 26-year old Classics teacher raised by her feminist widower mother, who is suffering from MS.

When she is offered the opportunity of a lifetime to teach the privileged and elite student body at Caldonbrae Hall, a prestigious boarding school in Scotland, her hesitation is overwhelmed by gratitude and that she is on an ambitious path in her academic career.

But all is not well at Caldonbrae; there are hints of something amiss at this formidable school, clues her young students offer, the way they speak, how little they know about the curriculum itself and seem not to care about the doors education will open for a young woman.

To make matters even creepier, her colleagues seem to know more than she does, and Rose soon realizes Caldonbrae is offering education of a different kind.

I really wanted to like Madam very much, but it was not to be.

First, there's very little character development for anyone, including Rose. She comes off as a naive character, despite her mother's strong, feminist values. When she discovers what Caldonbrae's true curriculum is really about, she goes off the rails, which is understandable but how can she not truly grasp the influence of the school, even after her mother was placed in a new hospital without her knowledge?

Second, I guessed Caldonbrae's mission very early in the book, possibly because arranged marriages is nothing new in my culture or I've read so many books with 'twists' I can usually guess them before they happen.

There are definitely hints of The Stepford Wives in Madam, yet the difference between Madam and Stepford is that the wives were deprogrammed in the latter, whereas most of the student body in Madam seem to be fine with their future as wives of the elite and powerful. People have gotten married for less.

Third, Rose's predecessor, Jane, and her failed tenure, was brought up as a reminder to Rose not to step out of bounds and know her place in the social pecking order, yet Jane's presence did not feel like it was used as effectively as it should have been.

This includes the student who was obsessed with Jane, and later Rose. I'm still not sure what the purpose of this disturbed student was. Yes, to create havoc and stress for Rose, but it felt contrived.

Caldonbrae is touted as a school with strict rules and guidelines so wouldn't management have silenced the student before her antics got out of hand? I understand the point was to throw Rose off her game but the whole scenario felt forced.

I did love the 1990s setting, Rose's references to movies from that time period, and the fact that there were no cell phones or social media really set the mood and tone of isolation.

The description of the Scottish cliffs and moody atmosphere added to the sense of segregation, a form of quarantine (apt for our current circumstances) where Rose felt alone and cut off from her mother, and had no friends or allies at Caldonbrae.

Sadly, I did not find this as dramatic or suspenseful as I had hoped, nor did I relate to any of the characters, including Rose.

The writing is good, but the narrative, at times, dragged and felt longer than it should have been, in my opinion.

I think many readers would enjoy this and I look forward to reading the author's next book.

I must admit I read this in one sitting, pulled along by the mysteries that were slowly unveiled. This is a modern gothic novel—which doesn’t read like a debut novel—with elements of the The Stepford Wives, a satirical thriller written in the early 1970s by Ira Levin in which a young mother who suspects the compliant one-dimensional housewives in her suburban neighborhood are robots constructed by their husbands. There are no robots in Madam, but lots of suspense.

Caldonbrae Hall, a girls’ boarding school was built on top of the ruins of an old Scottish castle and rides high above the rocky cliffs. The reviews of the school are always spectacular, and the school purports to graduate women who are ready to serve society—but only the upper crust, naturally. To this exalted place comes Rose Christie, a classics teacher just twenty-six years old. She is the first new hire in the school in over ten years. She’s overwhelmed at first, feels inept, and wonders why she was chosen for such a prestigious academy. She also wonders what happened to the woman she replaced.

The school’s polished veneer is founded on a traditional culture that hasn’t changed in the 150 years the institution has existed. Rose, raised by a bra-burning feminist mother and an intellectual father (also a teacher), struggles to balance her middle-class upbringing with the rituals of the upper class school. Eventually, Rose must confront the darkness of Caldonbrae which is slowly revealed (trying to avoid spoilers here) and determine whether or not she can fit in and perpetuate its heinous motives.

I received a copy of Madam in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.