Synopses & Reviews
Nanda Gray, the daughter of a Catholic convert, is nine when she is sent to the Convent of Five Wounds. Quick-witted, resilient, and eager to please, she adapts to this cloistered world, learning rigid conformity and subjection to authority. Passionate friendships are the only deviation from her total obedience. Convent lifethe smell of beeswax and incense, the petty cruelty of the nuns, the glamour and eccentricity of Nanda's friendsis perfectly captured by Antonia White.
Review
"Intense, troubling, semi-miraculous . . . It is not the only school story to be a classic; but I can think of no other that is a work of art." —Elizabeth Bowen
Review
"Frost in May is the unsurpassed novel of convent school life. This story of a clash between a determined young girl and an authoritarian regime is both perceptive and painfully emotional, convincing in every detail." —Hermoine Lee, Observer
Review
"A masterpeice. Beautifully written, is is a calm and factual record of the slow death of the soul." —Selina Hastings
Review
"Evelyn Waugh called [her] one of the very best novelists of the day - a title she still deserves." —Carol Shields
About the Author
Antonia White was born in 1899 and educated at in London at St. Paul's and RADA. She worked as a journalist and in the Foreign Office, had four novels published and translated over thirty novels from French. She died in Sussex in 1980.