When I heard the description of this book, I just had to read it! It was described as a modern gothic (yes please!), a darkly feminist tale and reviewers mentioned Rebecca and A Secret History. How could I resist?

This tale is set in an ancient castle on the isolated cliffs of Scotland. Caldonbrae Hall is a boarding school for girls with an excellent reputation. I loved that the author set this in the 1990's before cell phones and Google. The time period really increased the creepy claustrophobia of Caldonbrae for me.

Rose is a very young looking 26 year old Classics teacher who has been offered a position at Caldonbrae Hall, a place that rarely hires anyone. The author did an excellent job at conveying the unsettled, off balanced feelings that Rose experienced as she tried to settle into the school -- a strong sense that things are not as they seem or should be. All female teachers are called Madam. All male teachers are called Sir. No other names are allowed. Throughout the book, Rose teaches stories from Greek myth and history to encourage the girls to think a little more independently. I really felt this added to the story and enjoying learning more about this subject. All this is compounded by the care of her mother who remained in a nursing facility in England.

There is a lot to recommend about this book. If you enjoy gothic stories with mystery and unsavory overtones, this may be the book for you! I didn't rate it as highly as I anticipated that I would. I was confused by the opening (3 time periods in 3 pages) but it became clear upon rereading. Our heroine, Rose, is described several times as being highly intelligent but she doesn't seem to learn to behave in the best interest of her students or herself. The book is described as being darkly feminist and I feel that I should mention that the patriarchy in this book is incredibly icky. Take note gentle readers.

Thank you to St. Martin's Publishing Group and #NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy for review.

2.5/5
A modern gothic thriller set at an isolated boarding school on the Scottish coast? The premise hooked me, but unfortunately the book didn’t deliver on a lot of points. The biggest issue for me was that Rose is so dense, naive, and frustrating, and from a teacher’s perspective...she wasn’t that great. I had a lot of other issues with Madam, but it would have been greatly improved simply by having a different MC.
I also the twist coming from miles away, and so it wasn’t that shocking. The pacing could have been better because it was revealed in the middle. It would have been interesting and engaging to see Rose try to work/twist the system she was now locked into with its current pacing ,but it was mainly a lot of fretting, feeling betrayed by the other teachers, and not a lot of doing.
I also loved the myths but think could have been better integrated. Before they are presented in a lesson we get a brief summary and some commentary, but they are randomly placed and the “commentary” is a couple sentences. We do get a little more thought/commentary during the class discussion, but I think the feminist angle on the myths could have been done better. For example, more commentary on the fact that all of these women die, mainly by suicide. While I can certainly appreciate a female-empowering message it was extremely heavy handed. I think it would have been stronger if the school was more sly/if the school didn’t completely feel like it was set in the 1800s. Like yes it’s obviously supposed to be very traditional, different from modern schools, but the stark contrast played a large part in me being able to guess the twist early on and frustrated that Rose didn’t see it. In addition to the feminist message being a little lacking, there was just so much opportunity for other commentary such as classism (since the school almost exclusively serves the aristocratic and some middle class), how as teachers we must empower our students but also be careful things don’t get misconstrued (especially with that ending!), etc.

The school itself did things that didn’t make sense. For example, I understand that the school didn’t want to reveal their true purpose until after Rose’s probationary period so there was certain information she wasn’t told, but she asks soooo many questions because they barely tell her anything at all! There’s also the fact that the school KNEW Rose was a young, modern, “forward thinking” woman, but they didn’t have her submit her lesson plans for approval or even tell her what values/ideas she should be upholding in her classroom during this period. And yet they wonder why her girls are being more outspoken and she starts acting out???!

However, Rose’s references to modern things like Disney, Queen, etc. and people’s reactions to them was effective to me in showing just how isolated and closeted these people are. The book had a slow start but once it picked up (around 35%) I couldn’t stop reading. Despite its many flaws it was quite gripping. Additionally Wynne is quite effective at atmosphere and establishing the tension, uneasiness, and claustrophobic environment of Caldonbrae Hall. This book had a lot of potential, but it just didn’t reach its goals for me, plus the issues with character/pacing and plot compounded the issues.

It's 1993, and Rose Christie is surprised when she's chosen to become a department head at an elite girls' boarding school in Scotland. And well she should be surprised - she's had precious little experience to recommend her to teach there, much less head the Classics department. It's too good an offer to pass up, though, so off she goes. Ultimately she finds that her qualifications had little to do with her teaching abilities, and as the feminist daughter of a feminist mother she's tragically unsuited for the uber-traditional school, which has little to do with traditional education. But by then she's trapped by those "qualifications".
Phoebe Wynn has herself taught the classics, and her knowledge shows throughout the book - in fact the stories interspersed through the narrative begin to point in a direction that becomes undeniable.
The element that drew me to the book, the Gothic element, was well-executed. But other elements were jarring - there was a disconnect between the older girls' attitudes toward their teachers and what their education was meant to prepare them for. And Rose was a frustrating character - both as a teacher and as a woman who made a lot of irrational choices based on her emotions. This led to overall mixed emotions about the book for me - the parts I like balanced out the parts I didn't, leading me to neither love it nor hate it.
I listened to the audiobook, and the narration by Nathalie Buscombe was excellent - it definitely was one of the positives of the book for me.
Thanks to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio for providing a copy for an unbiased review.

This book is described as a feminist version of Rebecca. I was thinking how that wasn’t accurate but, the more I think about it, there are some coincidences. For starters, the main character doesn’t have a name (it’s Rose, but she’s not allowed to use it… she’s just Madam). There is also the ghost of her predecessor and a plot development that reminded me of the Gothic classic. That said, the story feels fresh. There are many Gothic elements that I loved, and the setting gets more and more claustrophobic as Rose discovers the secrets hidden within the boarding school where she teaches. The characters are magnificently written. They are extreme and in the middle of impossible situations, but they were still somehow believable. Dread permeates the atmosphere little by little until the tension is unbearable and the ending, inevitable.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/St. Martin's Press!

I’m sorry to say that Madam by author Phoebe Wynne was not an enjoyable read for me. The story is about an all girls boarding school called Caldonbrae Hall that is located in Scotland. Rose Christie is the first new hire in over 10 years and is hired to teach Classics and Latin. Right from the start Rose was treated as an outsider by both the students and the teaching personnel. There was a hidden agenda behind the school that Rose was not aware of when she accepted the position. Once she realized what was going on, she objected to it all, thinking it was morally wrong and old fashioned. One of the things I really disliked was the Greek mythology that was thrown in throughout the story. I skimmed through those parts. It took me longer than usual to read this book, at times I wanted to quit, but I was curious to find out what happened so I stuck with it. I am happy to say that I was pleased with the ending but I’m not sure this would be a book I would recommend. I would like to thank Beatrice Jason, Associate Marketing Manager @ St. Martin’s Press for the invitation and NetGalley for the arc to read and review. I’m going to rate this at 3 stars.

I really wanted this book to satisfy my dark academia dreams, but it fell a bit short. The premise had so much: female classics teacher coming into an all girls school and learning about what life the students are really being prepared for. Early on I felt that while I didn't love our main character Rose, I was perfectly fine following her. As the story went on she became an inauthentic caricature of a feminist with a savior complex. Did I want her to do something to dismantle the school structure? Yes. Was everything stacked against her compelling? Yes. But did I ever believe her motivations or mental state throughout? Not really. All but a few of the students seemed interchangeable, and while one could argue this was the point the author was trying to make, it never went all the way there. Many plot points felt predictable to me and others that were thrown in for shock factor did nothing for my reading experience. Overall it was extremely readable despite inconsistent pacing, and the bits that talked about women and myth was a nice reprieve.

Part gothic mystery, part feminist dystopian horror, definitely has some plot holes, but those aside, it’s totally compelling and unputdownable! Rose, a young Classics teacher, gets mysteriously recruited to join the staff of an imposing all-girls boarding school, on a windswept peninsula in Scotland. The remote location and unwelcoming and calculating girls (and teachers), help create an eerie atmosphere as a creeping sense of dread grows. I loved the sense of place, and the Greek and Roman heroines were learn about in Rose’s lessons. It goes a little off the rails near the end, but this was a fun page-turner for sure.

I was very intrigued by the subject matter of Phoebe Wynne's newest book, Madam, when I was first introduced to the book. A teacher struggling to make ends meet and care for her sick mother gets the opportunity of a lifetime; teaching at Caldonbrae Hall, a boarding school for girls. Everyone associated with Caldonbrae Hall is taken care of for life, both students and faculty. Rose accepts her position teaching Latin to the girls and suddenly her whole life changes. Her mother is placed in an amazing home and begins to get better. But underneath the good, hides the bad. A young girl is found dead and the questions begin to circle. Nothing is as it seems. Rose begins to dig and uncovers secrets long thought buried.
I was very encouraged by the beginning of Madam, but half way though, the story lost its steam. I wasn't even interested in how the book ended, although I did finish so I could give a proper opinion. The writing was great in the beginning but the chapters were slightly longer than I prefer.
I would give Wynne's writing another try. This book just missed the mark for me. Special thanks to NetGalley, Phoebe Wynne, and St. Martin's Press for the advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest opinion. 3 stars

This book is a gothic/ dark academia wonder.
Is the year 1992. Rose, a young Classics teacher, arrives to Caldonbrae Hall, a traditional all female boarding school in a Castle, on the Scottish Cliffs. This is already a pretty dark setting. If you add the ghost of a woman, a haunting secret and a few creepy students, you have the components for a modern gothic tale that won't disappoint you. But that is not all. The prose is clear, effective, and highly articulated what makes this book really enjoyable in terms of setting, storyline and writing style.
Ideal for Gothic literature and Dark Academia lovers, who will also appreciate the greek and roman mythology and history references.

Described as a Gothic feminist tale, this book at first seemed to be a perfect fit for me. While I appreciate the ideas the book was trying to get across, I could not get past the old-fashioned and antiquated tone of the book, which is just not my thing. Most of the book takes place in the present day, but you would never know it from the school’s traditions or the way the characters speak, which is a little bit like something out of the 1800s. I understand this was probably the author’s intention, but it made for rather slow and stilted reading.

In the midst of all this old-fashionedness, I would have liked to have seen a thoroughly modern and rebellious character. Unfortunately I did not find heroine Rose to be such a character. I am also a fan of Greek mythology, But unfortunately the Greek mythology stories of Medusa and other female heroines did not land well with me either. They felt a bit more like the school lectures they were in the book, rather than intriguing stories that came alive.

I give the author credit for what she was trying to do and for her creativity, but I feel the book could have greatly benefitted from a more modern tone from at least one of the characters. It was hard for me to connect emotionally with the characters in this more detached and formal style. However, other readers who like that kind of Gothic historical storytelling may like it more than I did

2.5 stars, rounded up for good ideas, but unfortunately not my cup of dark tea.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley and the author for the ARC.

When Rose is offered a coveted position at an elite girls school in Scotland, she can’t believe her good fortune. Soon after she arrives, she starts to question things, why aren’t the girls interested in learning? What happened to their old teacher? Why is a troubled student out to get her? Slowly things start to come to light and Rose vows to save her students even when everything goes up in flames!

A supposedly feminist take on the gothic boarding school/dark academia story, this novel just didn’t work for me.

The sense of creeping dread that I love in a gothic novel creeped a bit too slow for me.
The writing was a bit clumsy in the beginning (I was reading an arc) but became better and more gripping as the story continued.

The stated feminist message is (the narrator actually says it to her students) “a woman does not exist for the pleasure of a man.”
Well, yeah.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for a free ARC.

I'm a big fan of any sort of gothic/horror/suspense novel and I love a boarding school setting. Unfortunately I wasn't a big fan of this author's writing style. I found myself really struggling to invest in the main character, or any of the characters for that matter, and honestly I found the dialog especially to be very unrealistic and clunky. It wasn't a bit hit for me, but I love the concept and the cover design is gorgeous.

This book really wasn't my cup of tea. I had high hopes for this one - a boarding school on the Scottish cliffs with notes of mythology? How could it go wrong? But it did. I thought the idea/premise was interesting, but the execution really didn't work.

The characters are very flat, and have very little development. At this boarding school, girls are being "trained" to be Stepford-like females, and I just can't. The problem was, that wasn't the problem. And the outdated mentality that had every feminist nerve in my body sparking.

I will not be recommending this one.

I love the idea of this book, but unfortunately I could not get into the story. I only made it to 40% before I stopped reading. The writing style was very dense and there was too much to get through to actually get to the story.

Wildly imaginative! Great, multi-faceted characters. Very unique plot. Vivid descriptions. After the first few pages, I knew this was a book I wasn’t going to be able to put down, until I got to The End. A REALLY great read! If you like twisty, gothic suspense as much as I do, you can't go wrong with this book!

*I received a complimentary ARC of this book in order to read and provide a voluntary, unbiased and honest review, should I choose to do so.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book. I really love gothic fiction so I was eagerly anticipating this! I was surprised when I realized it takes place in the 1990’s…after all, the gothic genre relies so much on hidden mysteries, and I figured not much could be hidden in the modern age. But, I was delightedly wrong! Madam takes place at a somewhat isolated all-girls private school, which is really an ideal place for gothic fiction. Rose, the protagonist, is a Classics teacher, and the novel is sprinkled with female-focused mythology vignettes that end up having a larger significance to the story as a whole. I don’t want to give away any of the story, so my comments are more about the writing and plot as a whole. First, I felt like every character except for Rose was really well done and I could easily visualize them. For some reason I never got a feel for Rose, which seems odd for the main character, but it may have also been a choice by the author to make her more a blank slate for the reader, if that makes sense. Second, yes, there are a million parts in this book where you will wonder why Rose doesn’t just get the hell out, but you learn why she is forced to stay (maybe believable, maybe not), but most good gothic fiction requires a suspension of real-world common sense. Finally, gothic fiction usually builds up to some horrible reveal about the circumstances the protagonist is in; at first, I was surprised at the reveal in this book. It’s hard to explain, but I guessed the essential part of it early (not some of the later grisly details), so I was expecting something more outlandish. The more I thought about it however, the more I realized it is a sort of perfect modern gothic fiction - not ghosts and monsters, but a social horror, which fits the time period well. The writing was excellent and I read cover to cover in one night - I just couldn’t put it down, literally. It has some flaws, but the remainder more than makes up for it.

If you want me to read a book, put a boarding school filled with girls in a creepy building and you have my instant attention. Cue the “mean girls”, the comrade who drinks too much and has a loose tongue yet never says enough, the handsome counterpart, and the automatous office secretaries, and you’ve got me, hook, line, and sinker. The elusiveness and intrigue in the beginning of this story borders on irritating as the pace that reveals the reason for the mysteries can be a bit slow but it makes the reveals and conclusion all the more worthy for the wait. Also, prepare to have your interest piqued in the Greek tragedies, as this story is often told through the teaching of and interpretation of these timeless works. It is this unique writing approach that makes up for the sometimes unconventional transitions and back-and-forth timeline that can give a reader a bit of whiplash. However, nothing can top the dramatic conclusion, leaving with a hint of possibility for a sequel, or maybe the author is just a tease.

An advanced copy of this book was sent to me by the publisher. The opinions are my own.

Oh wow this Gothic style debut is an extraordinary tale of a boarding school for girls that is not on the up and up like they want you to be believe. I wasn't sure about this book to begin with but after I got started I was hooked!!!!!!! You will not expect the things that goes on behind these grounds of this boarding school at all!!!!!!! I was shocked a couple of times throughout. It is an extraordinary story and will keep you reading till the long hours of the night. I highly recommend this book.

So, I’m not gonna lie…the reviews I’d seen on this book made me a bit worried. But, I liked the idea of the book and tried to go in open minded.

And I liked it!

The Gothic notes on this one are terrific. Although it actually takes place in the 1990’s, it feels perfectly Gothic. Our heroine is that mix of naïve yet earnest and has this massive sense of justice that threatens to get her into so much trouble.

The truth of the school is no surprise to anyone but our heroine – one does wonder why she doesn’t figure things out a bit quicker – but it’s still rather satisfying to have it confirmed once all the secrets come rushing out.

As to the feminist notes: yes, they’re a major theme of the book. I thought they were handled well, though the breaks into stories from mythology became a little tiring. That could be, however, because the stories were already so familiar. I’ll admit…I eventually skimmed those.

All in all, it was a good book. It was dramatic, at times heartbreaking, and…actually all too believable (sadly).

*ARC via Net Galley