Cracks

I watched the film Cracks at the cinema. Beautifully shot at a girl's school in County Meath, Ireland, the story unfolds of a newcomer who has an enormous effect on the behaviour of the girls and teacher already at the school. I later read the book and was surprised to find that the original story was set in South Africa, where the heat and conditions at the isolated school added to the tensions of the relationships between the characters. We learn more of their characteristics and backgrounds in the book, although the shocking secret kept by the girls is unexpected when revealed. Even after seeing the film and thinking that I knew the story, I was unprepared for the events leading up to the climax, re-lived at a school reunion when the girls (now women) are bound by unspoken secrets. Sheila Kohler's beautifully conceived story is both shocking and mesmerising as the reader is immersed in boarding school life where the introduction of the strong-willed foreign girl to the school changes their lives forever. Read it!

Sheila Kohler's writing style was not for me. She chooses her beautiful words very carefully BUT her characters lack emotional depth and realism. All, (except maybe the persona of Fiamma), are like empty caricatures.The story is also very strangely structured... Couldn't enjoy it. Maybe it's just MY fault, can't say...

I saw the film first and was intrigued by the characters and plot. The film is set in England and the girl who comes into this fusty girl's school is Spanish. In the book, which was of course the original setting, the scene is South Africa and the school rather more like a surreal dreamscape. The author presents herself as a character in the book but does not idealise herself in any way. I found the book slightly suffocating but then that is part of the story's point. It covers important themes of a charismatic teacher who seeks to bring her girls under her personal and sexual power. But she cannot control all and her jealousy runs out of control. The school like most schools of its type naturally tries to suppress the events for the sake of its 'good name'. It made me glad that I had never been tempted to become a teacher!

This is probably one of my favourite books. I couldn't put it down. You can almost feel the thick heat of the South African veld, the smell Miss G's cigarettes and the feel of the girl's scratchy uniforms at the back of your neck. Kohler really draws you into the girls' day to day life at the boarding school, and the curious events that took place. But don't think that this is your usual "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" boarding school innocence novel, not at all. This is a very dark novel, right from the beginning, and a great ending. It's written in first person plural from the girls' point of view, looking back as adults, but there is no named narrator, except that one of the girl's is named Sheila Kholer, and is said to have 'wrote it all down for us.' It's refreshingly different. I think this is a love it or hate it kind of book judging by reviews online, but it's really worth giving it a go. I enjoyed every page of it and have re-read it many times. I also recommend the film (which is what prompted me to read the book) although it is very different, they've really captured the feel of the book and the plot line is pretty much the same.

Beautifully written and owing a debt to Baroness Lindsay's novel in its detailed period setting and the ever-present ancient landscape acting as a character in its own right. The characters are well drawn with the sinister Miss G's Prometheus-like teacher both inspiring creativity and sexual hysteria among her young charges. It was a dead cert to make a terrific film, but they inexplicably ditched South Africa for England/Ireland making the whole exercise pointless. Read the book, love it as a book. It needs no adaptation.

Great story, actually watched the film first which I liked and made me want to read it too.

I enjoyed this book up until near the end. Then it all fell apart. I don't think a group of teenage girls could 1) possibly behave in that fashion 2) manage to not give themselves away under police interrogation, and in the unlikely event of both of these happening 3) that they would ever get together again, never mind at the scene of the incident. I also doubt that the police investigation could have been so inefficient as to not solve the mystery. I have given 3 stars though because I thought it was well written and the characters were well drawn in most cases. I also liked the background, having grown up in South Africa although a very different part and a little later.

Yes, this is what boarding schools were really like between the wars and having won diving awards in those days I much appreciated the efforts of the team involved; Eva Green's performamce was remarkable. Michael