A Dangerous Education - by Megan Chance (Paperback)

About the Book

"A reformist teacher. A dangerous student clique. A powerful novel about secrets and redemption set in the shadows of McCarthy-era America. Rosemary Chivers is haunted by the choices she made as a teenager - and by those made for her by a controlling mother. Now, in the Cold War era of conformity and suspicion, Rosemary is a modern new teacher at a school for troubled girls, where she challenges the narrow curriculum meant to tame restless young minds. She also keeps a devastating secret. She knows one of the students is the child she gave up. But which one? Ignoring warnings, Rosemary forms an impenetrable bond with the three girls who are the right age: shrewd runaway Maisie, alcohol-indulging Sandra, and overly flirtatious Jean. But these are no ordinary girls, and what begins as an effort to bring closure to her own rebellious youth soon spirals dangerously out of control. Rosemary is prepared to do anything to find her daughter. What she isn't prepared for are the deadly consequences that come with discovery - or just how wicked wayward girls can be.

Book Synopsis

"A powerful and thought-provoking story that is impossible to put down." --Kristin Hannah, New York Times bestselling author of The Four Winds and The Nightingale

A reformist teacher. A dangerous student clique. A powerful novel about secrets and redemption set in the shadows of McCarthy-era America.

Rosemary Chivers is haunted by the choices she made as a teenager--and by those made for her by a controlling mother. Now, in the Cold War era of conformity and suspicion, Rosemary is a modern new teacher at a school for troubled girls, where she challenges the narrow curriculum meant to tame restless young minds. She also keeps a devastating secret. She knows one of the students is the child she gave up. But which one?

Ignoring warnings, Rosemary forms an impenetrable bond with the three girls who are the right age: shrewd runaway Maisie, alcohol-indulging Sandra, and overly flirtatious Jean. But these are no ordinary girls, and what begins as an effort to bring closure to her own rebellious youth soon spirals dangerously out of control.

Rosemary is prepared to do anything to find her daughter. What she isn't prepared for are the deadly consequences that come with discovery--or just how wicked wayward girls can be.

Review Quotes

"Chance's knack of introducing quiet menace into her novels pulls the story along at break-neck speed. I couldn't let go! Highly recommended." --Historical Novels Review

"Long-buried secrets, agonizing choices, dangerous obsessions: this thought-provoking historical mystery is destined to become a book-club favorite. Its timely emphasis on women's autonomy (or lack thereof!), not to mention its twists and turns, will keep you reading all the way to its unpredictable, but fully earned, ending." -- Christina Baker Kline, #1 New York Times bestselling author

"A 1950s setting, rich with the complications of societal expectations for women and McCarthy's communist witch hunts. A private boarding school for wealthy but wayward girls. A teacher with a storied past guiding girls in a storied present. It all makes for a page-turner of a historical mystery that rips along to an unexpected and immensely satisfying ending. This is Megan Chance at her best!" --Meg Waite Clayton, author of the international bestseller The Postmistress of Paris

"In A Dangerous Education, Megan Chance shifts her incisive, brilliant eye for lives of women to the mid-twentieth century and pens a powerful tale of mothers and daughters, ...painful choices, and the fury of bright women forced into lives that don't fit. I have loved Megan Chance for a long time, and this is another dazzling gem from her oeuvre." --Barbara O'Neal, bestselling author of When We Believed in Mermaids and This Place of Wonder

"I've loved every book by Megan Chance I've read (and I've read them all), and this is by far one of the best. A Dangerous Education has one of the most startling and suspenseful plot points of the year--of the last few years. The reader is riveted by the story but even more by these beautiful characters who make us stop and think about this difficult time for women in our history. This is a stunning novel that shines brightly as it shines a strong light on the deep and abiding emotions of the characters." --M. J. Rose, New York Times bestselling author of The Jeweler of Stolen Dreams

"A Dangerous Education, Megan Chance's brilliant look at women's lives in the 1950s is a powerful and thought-provoking story that is impossible to put down. This tale of dark secrets, heart-breaking decisions, and terrible consequences is a perfect choice for book clubs and will resonate with modern readers. Full of unexpected twists and turns, this historical mystery will keep readers guessing until the final page is turned. --Kristin Hannah, New York Times bestselling author of The Four Winds and The Nightingale

"Absolutely engrossing. Megan Chance's A Dangerous Education deftly weaves the tensions of the Cold War era together with the high drama of a heroine whose past drives her present, including the fateful decisions she makes at the reform school for privileged girls where she works. I was so utterly enthralled by Rosemary's search for her daughter and for a fresh start to her own life, I literally only put the novel down once--to catch an airplane--then obsessively kept reading through to the final page." --Joy Jordan-Lake, bestselling author of A Bend of Light and Under a Gilded Moon