The Year of the Gadfly - Paperback

by Jennifer Miller (Author)

"Do you know what it took for Socrates' enemies to make him stop pursuing the truth?"
"Hemlock."

Storied, fiercely competitive Mariana Academy was founded with a serious honor code; its reputation has been unsullied for decades. Now a long-dormant secret society, Prisom's Party, threatens its placid halls with vigilante justice, exposing students and teachers alike for even the most minor infraction.

Iris Dupont, a budding journalist whose only confidant is the chain-smoking specter of Edward R. Murrow, feels sure she can break into the ranks of The Devil's Advocate, the Party's underground newspaper, and there uncover the source of its blackmail schemes and vilifying rumors. Some involve the school's new science teacher, who also seems to be investigating the Party. Others point to an albino student who left school abruptly ten years before, never to return. And everything connects to a rare book called Marvelous Species. But the truth comes with its own dangers, and Iris is torn between her allegiances, her reporter's instinct, and her own troubled past.

The Year of the Gadfly is an exhilarating journey of double-crosses, deeply buried secrets, and the lifelong reverberations of losing someone you love. Following in the tradition of classic school novels such as A Separate Peace, Prep, and The Secret History, it reminds us how these years haunt our lives forever.

Back Jacket

A Self Best Book of 2012 A Kirkus Best Fiction selection of 2012
A hilarious and heartbreaking story about friendship, acceptance, and trust the way our search for them shapes our youth and how that search can haunt us forever. Jennifer Close, author of Girls in White Dresses
A darkly comic romp. Washington Post

Storied, fiercely competitive Mariana Academy was founded with a serious honor code; its reputation has been unsullied for decades. Now a long-dormant secret society threatens its placid halls with vigilante justice, exposing students and teachers alike for even the most minor infraction.
Iris Dupont, budding journalist, feels sure she can break into the ranks of The Devil s Advocate, the Party s underground newspaper, and there uncover the source of its blackmail schemes and vilifying rumors. But the truth comes with its own dangers, and Iris is torn between her allegiances, her reporter s instinct, and her own troubled past.
The Year of the Gadfly is an exhilarating journey of double-crosses, deeply buried secrets, and the lifelong reverberations of losing someone you love.

A coming-of-age page-turner. Library Journal
Engrossing. O, The Oprah Magazine
Harrowing, enchanting, and utterly original. Amber Dermont, Daily Beast

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Author Biography

Year of the Gadfly is her first novel.