All Souls
by Christine Schutt
Nomination: Pulitzer Finalist 2009
Date Read: November 20, 2021
All Souls provides a glimpse into the privileged world of a Manhattan all girls private school. The fictitious Siddons School is an elite experience for Kinders through 12th grade, however, all the advantages the Siddons School provides still cannot shelter these girls from the problems all teenage girls face.
The biggest gossip throughout the halls is about Astra Dell, a somewhat popular girl, gifted in dance who has been struck with a rare cancer and spends her entire senior year in the hospital. While she eventually grows strong enough to be discharged towards the end of the year, this experience has laid bare who her true friends are. Marlene, who wasn’t really friends with Astra prior to her illness visits nearly every day and brings her her homework. Car was a dear friend before her illness and has taken to writing to her stark letters about dying.
As for the rest of the girls, they are anxious about college acceptances, resentful of absent fathers, disgusted by mothers who nearly push them into eating disorders, experimenting with a same-sex relationship with a teacher no less and vying for academic recognition from their teachers and peers. All of these experiences are pretty normal for teenagers regardless of prestige.
The diary-like entries and abundance of peripheral characters makes this a disjointed novel and while an entertaining read, leaves me scratching my head as to how this became a Pulitzer finalist.
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