Prep

Curtis Sittenfeld is the author of Prep. The novel was published in 2005, becoming a bestseller and something of a sensation. Like the main character, Lee Fiora, Sittenfeld is from the Midwest and went to a prestigious boarding school, Groton School in Massachusetts. In an Entertainment Weekly article, Sittenfeld says she based the look of Ault (Lee’s boarding school) on Groton, but Prep isn’t autobiographical, and she and Lee don’t have much in common (Rankin, Seija. “The Untold Story of Prep: Secrets From the Making of the Cult-Classic Campus Novel.” Entertainment Weekly, 18 Aug. 2018). As the book follows Lee as she develops at Ault, it qualifies as a coming-of-age story or a Bildungsroman. The funny parts of the book make it a satire, and the romantic parts turn it into a romance novel. Lee’s voice is multifaceted, and her struggle to assert herself at the affluent Ault produces themes like Identity Construction, Girls versus Boys, and Money and Visibility.

The page numbers refer to the 2013 Random House eBook edition of Prep.

Content Warning: Prep contains fatphobia, suicide, and bigoted representations of race, ethnicity, and gender.