cover image I Am Her Revenge

I Am Her Revenge

Meredith Moore. Razorbill, $17.99 (336p) ISBN 978-1-59514-782-0

Moore’s debut is a sort of Fatal Attraction by way of Flowers in the Attic. Vivian is just turning 18 when she arrives at Madigan, a boarding school in Yorkshire, under orders to destroy a boy named Ben by making him fall hopelessly in love with her. The orders come from Mother, whose “keening wail” over the boy who broke her own heart (Ben’s father) is a hallmark of Vivian’s early memories. Vivian has been groomed from birth in every tactic to captivate a male and stay cold herself. Mother’s obsession is unbounded—she’ll have a little boy beaten or slit the throats of kittens to further her aims. Vivian has always given Mother her unquestioning obedience, but her intentions to carry out Mother’s revenge are jeopardized by the appearance of Arthur, the uneducated son of Mother’s servant, who grew into a skilled poet under Vivian’s tutelage before vanishing from her life. The conceit is unconvincingly overstretched, but Moore is a gifted descriptive writer who brings her imaginings to strong sensory life. Ages 12–up. Agent: Alexandra Machinist, Janklow and Nesbit. (Apr.)