Perfectly captures the breathless excitement of adolescent passion

A remarkable novel which is unique in its presentation of the female mind and emotions in teachers and pupils at a girls' school. It has a strange combination of strength and delicacy

It is the story of an overheated emotional glasshouse, of an awakening and febrile yearnings, of the anguished decoding of tiny signals of intention from the beloved, of fervid alliances and bitter jealousies between two factions of girls, and the falling out of the two teachers they adore, with a shattering conclusion

The chapter from Dorothy Strachey's Olivia, which deals with the well-worn topic of a schoolgirl's love for her teacher, seems fresh and beautifully done

A narrative of sheer emotion... Olivia achieves the purity of classic tragedy

Extraordinary...as accomplished and perfect as possible in its feeling, its decorum and tact, its secret lyricism...in its quality at the same time of modesty and candour

A wonderful dark comic first novel