Orange Prize shortlisted debut novel by the phenomenal word-of-mouth bestselling author of AMERICAN WIFE _____________ From the bestselling author of RODHAM, AMERICAN WIFE and YOU THINK IT, I'LL SAY IT. 'Sittenfeld writes girls and women as they truly are, with shades of light and dark, with and without grace, apologetic as well as fearless' GUARDIAN 'PREP might just be my favourite book' PANDORA SYKES 'Sittenfeld shares with Salinger a knack of capturing, in effortless prose, a teenager mindset' THE TIMES _____________ Lee Fiora is a shy fourteen-year-old when she leaves small-town Indiana for a scholarship at Ault, an exclusive boarding school in Massachusetts. Her head is filled with images from the school brochure of handsome boys in sweaters leaning against old brick buildings, girls running with lacrosse sticks across pristine athletics fields, everyone singing hymns in chapel. But as she soon learns, Ault is a minefield of unstated rules and incomprehensible social rituals, and Lee must work hard to find - and maintain - her place in the pecking order. _____________ 'PREP is more than a coming of age story - it's a study of social class ... and Sittenfeld renders it with astonishing deftness and clarity.' JENNIFER EGAN 'Straightforward, serious, funny.' London Review of Books 'Sharp, caustic and brilliantly observed' Observer