Gossip of the Starlings

by: Nina De Gramont

Published by: Algonquin Books

Reviewed by Julie Failla Earhart

Draped against the background of the Regan years, first-time novelist Nina De Gramont delivers a cautionary tale of teenage rebellion in Gossip of the Starlings.

Catherine Morrow was supposedly expelled from Waverly after she and her boyfriend John Paul were caught in bed together. Upon her arrival as the Esther Percy School for Girls, Catherine will try to make her affair with John Paul work via long distance. Catherine has a few other issues also: she loves her cocaine.

When she arrives she is immediately befriended by another new student, Skye Butterfield. Skye has always been in the public eye–the dutiful, beautiful, and intelligent daughter of Senator Douglas Butterfield. While Catherine has pushed the envelope that many teenagers do, Skye has never truly rebelled.

At seventeen, the new Skye Butterfield is eager and ready to risk everything. She binges with Catherine on coke and other drugs, she has an affair with her English teacher, and hitchhikes were she wants to go off campus.

Catherine decides that it is time for her to stop her reckless behavior if she ever wants to make it to the National Horse Show. She does a good job of taking care of her horse, Pippin, and trains regularly, but the needed points always seem out of reach. When Skye tries to worm her way into Catherine’s friendship with her old high school buddies, Catherine realizes that Skye cannot be trusted.

There is an interesting cast of adult characters who seem fairly stereotyped, but the true power of Gossip of the Starlings lies in De Gramont’s ability to portray teenagers’ feelings. Catherine’s turnaround is well-done when she realizes that her horse and what she has worked toward for years is more important than either John Paul or drugs.

The ending was disappointing in that I feel that De Gramont’s took the easy way out with Skye’s character. This is one of the books where the ending did not feel as if it could be the only one. Still, it was a good read.

Armchair Interviews agrees.