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  • The Finishing School

  • A Novel
  • Written by: Joanna Goodman
  • Narrated by: Andi Arndt
  • Length: 8 hrs and 48 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (33 ratings)

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The Finishing School

Written by: Joanna Goodman
Narrated by: Andi Arndt
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Publisher's Summary

In this suspenseful, provocative novel of friendship, secrets, and deceit, a successful writer returns to her elite Swiss boarding school to get to the bottom of a tragic accident that took place while she was a student 20 years earlier.

How far would you go to uncover the truth?

One spring night in 1998, the beautiful Cressida Strauss plunges from a fourth-floor balcony at the Lycée Internationale Suisse with catastrophic consequences. Loath to draw negative publicity to the school, a bastion of European wealth and glamour, officials quickly dismiss the incident as an accident, but questions remain. Was it a suicide attempt? Or was Cressida pushed? It was no secret that she had a selfish streak and had earned as many enemies as allies in her tenure at the school. For her best friend, scholarship student Kersti Kuusk, the lingering questions surrounding Cressida's fall continue to nag long after she leaves the Lycée.

Kersti marries and becomes a best-selling writer but never stops wondering about Cressida's obsession with the Helvetian Society - a secret club banned years before their arrival at the school - and a pair of its members who were expelled. When Kersti is invited as a guest to the Lycée's 100th Anniversary, she begins probing the cover-up, unearthing a frightening underbelly of lies and abuse at the prestigious establishment. And in one portentous moment, Kersti makes a decision that will connect her to Cressida forever and raise the stakes dangerously high in her own desire to solve the mystery and redeem her past.

As clever as it is compelling, The Finishing School offers a riveting glimpse into a privileged, rarefied world in which nothing is as it appears.

©2017 Joanna Goodman (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers

What listeners say about The Finishing School

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
  • Ann
  • 2018-09-27

Somewhat disappointed.

I enjoyed Home for Unwanted Girls so much, I immediately bought The Finishing School. Perhaps if I had read this one first, my expectations would not have been so high. If you are going to read them both, read this first, it is enjoyable. However The Home for Unwanted Girls is so much better

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Am I the only one...

who thinks it's creepy to harvest eggs from one's comatose childhood friend? That storyline would actually have made a really good suspense/thriller. If the narrator's insecurity and obsession with her best friend had led to the crime, and then to her stealing her genetic material...Anyway, that wasn't this story. This story was alright. The baby-making plotline was unnecessary and some of the character development overly expositional,but the mystery at the core was interesting. The setting/s and use of flashback semi- captivating. It was well read...decent Summer roadtrip listen.

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