They all share the drive to steer their children in the right direction within a society putting a premium on personal success and public image.īut this steering puts all four sides on a collision course with vanity and one another when plans for “a public magnet school for the exceptionally gifted” dubbed Crystal Academy are announced, occupying not just the soul of Crystal Valley - “a majestic bowl of earth, stone, sky” clouded with entitlement and privilege - but also the minds of the families, whose drive morphs into zeal as they compete for admission. The mothers, Rose, Lauren, Samantha, and Azra, bonded with one another eleven years earlier on account of their affluence and the intellect of their children - including the “chess personality” of Lauren’s son Xander and Rose’s daughter Emma’s love of books. Set in the fictional town of Crystal, “one of the most politically progressive towns in America with one of the least diverse populations,” the book follows four families. After taking on the streets of fourteenth-century London in A Burnable Book and The Invention Fire, Bruce Holsinger transplants his penchant for uncanny plot devices and social fabrics in flux to 2018 Colorado with his domestic drama novel The Gifted School.
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