The daughter of a Russian oligarch is sent to an English boarding school, and initially feels at odds with the culture among the other girls. A handful of the girls are selected for lessons at the headmaster's house. A disappearance makes the central character perceive the full strangeness of her surroundings. A much-anticipated return to adult fiction from the author of "The End Of Mr Y".

Scarlett Thomas was born in London in 1972. Her novels for adults include Bright Young Things, PopCo, The Seed Collectors, The End of Mr. Y which was longlisted for the Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction 2007, and Our Tragic Universe. Her first series for children, The Worldquake Sequence, follows the adventures of Effie Truelove. She teaches creative writing at the University of Kent.