A School for Unusual Girls: A Stranje House Novel

Georgiana Fitzwilliam finds herself in the most embarrassing of positions for a sixteen-year-old young lady in 1814: she is brilliant. Worse than that though, she is curious. Unable to stand the shame of having an intelligent—if somewhat absentminded—daughter, her parents send her to a reform school that is rumored to be little more than a torture chamber. Georgiana soon discovers, however, that deception is a day-to-day occurrence at Stranje House. In fact, lessons are taught on just that, along with how to escape being tied to a chair, knife throwing, and cooking. It is no accident Georgian finds herself at Stranje House and she quickly finds that she is the key factor in an act of espionage that has the potential to unify the nation or cause civil war.

This genre-bending young adult novel brings a little bit of everything to the table: history, romance, and adventure. With a band of strong-willed, intelligent young ladies at the forefront, the gentlemen are left to assume the role of damsel in distress and the results do not disappoint. Though the conclusion of the book seemed a bit too drawn out, the wit and adventure kept the pages turning until the end.A School for Unusual Girls is a worthy read and the beginning of a promising new series.