When the Ground Is Hard
SynopsisPlot
Adele Joubert loves being one of the popular girls at Keziah Christian Academy. She knows the upcoming semester at school is going to be great with her best friend Delia at her side. Then Delia dumps her for a new girl with more money, and Adele is forced to share a room with Lottie, the school pariah, who doesn't pray and defies teachers' orders. But as they share a copy of Jane Eyre, Lottie's gruff exterior and honesty grow on Adele, and Lottie learns to be a little sweeter. Together, they take on bullies and protect each other from the vindictive and prejudiced teachers. Then a boy goes missing on campus and Adele and Lottie must rely on each other to solve the mystery and maybe learn the true meaning of friendship.
Story
About this book
Adele Joubert is a student at Keziah Christian Academy, a boarding school in Swaziland (now Eswatini), where rank among the girls follows family wealth and social standing. At the start of a new semester, Adele expects to settle comfortably beside her best friend Delia. Instead, Delia drops her for a wealthier newcomer, and Adele must share a room with Lottie, a stubborn outsider who refuses to pray and challenges the teachers.
Lottie and Adele have little in common at first. A shared copy of Jane Eyre becomes the thing that draws them closer. Lottie's blunt honesty begins to wear down Adele's attachment to status, while Adele's warmth softens Lottie's sharp edges. Together they face bullying from other students and cruelty from prejudiced teachers who enforce the school's social divisions with petty authority.
When a boy disappears on campus, the two girls are pulled into a mystery that tests their loyalty to each other. The novel sits inside the social structures of a southern African boarding school, where caste, money, and class shape daily life in open and unspoken ways. Malla Nunn has been nominated for an Edgar Award.
