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Available
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Series
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Collection
Publication
Virago (1998), Edition: New Ed, 224 pages
Description
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 accepts this closed world where, with all the enthusiasm of the outsider, her desires and passions become only those the school permits. Her only deviation from total obedience is the passionate friendships she makes. Convent life is perfectly captured - the smell of beeswax and incense; the petty cruelties of the nuns; the eccentricities of Nanda's school friends.
Media reviews
Few other novels of our time, whatever the materials they have dealt in, have exhibited the clarity of purpose, the niceness of emphasis, the neatness of detail displayed by Miss White in "Frost in May."
User reviews
LibraryThing member lauralkeet
As noted in the introduction, Frost in May is of the genre known as "school stories": books about the horrors of boarding school. These stories usually concern boys' schools, and those written about girls were insulting and unrealistic. Antonia White attempted to change that with this, her first
My main reason for reading this book is that it it was the first Virago Modern Classic to be published. Virago Modern Classics celebrate women writers, often resurrecting and reprinting older works which may have gone unrecognized. Antonia White writes in a style not unlike Jane Austen, often poking fun at Nanda's world. Convent-educated herself, she no doubt spoke from direct experience. I've recently acquired about 10 Viragos by hunting through various used bookshops, including some other works by White. I'm looking forward to becoming better acquainted with our "literary foremothers," by reading more Virago Modern Classics.
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novel, published in 1933. Nanda is a quite normal and ordinary 9-year-old heroine, sent to a convent school following her parents' conversion to Catholicism. She is devout and excited about her new faith. Bit by bit, she is broken down by the nuns who stifle creativity, independent thought, and freedom of expression. Nanda struggles to reconcile her early enthusiasm with reality: How could an institution be wrong that was evidently so divinely inspired, that had survived for nearly two thousand years in spite of persecution and slander, that stood firm through scandals, heresies and schisms?My main reason for reading this book is that it it was the first Virago Modern Classic to be published. Virago Modern Classics celebrate women writers, often resurrecting and reprinting older works which may have gone unrecognized. Antonia White writes in a style not unlike Jane Austen, often poking fun at Nanda's world. Convent-educated herself, she no doubt spoke from direct experience. I've recently acquired about 10 Viragos by hunting through various used bookshops, including some other works by White. I'm looking forward to becoming better acquainted with our "literary foremothers," by reading more Virago Modern Classics.
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LibraryThing member DameMuriel
I've heard good things about this book for years. When I was in the new used bookshop in Baton Rouge a few weeks ago, I found a copy. The new used bookshop is called "Thomas Savage." You should go there when you are in Baton Rouge.
Anyway, I started reading Frost in May about a week ago. It was
And she was.
The last few chapters of the book were so painful to read but utterly mesmerizing. I won't spoil the ending for those who haven't read it. All I'll say is sometimes there is nothing more evil and vindictive than a nun.
Anyway, I started reading Frost in May about a week ago. It was
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hard to get into the book at first. It started making me cringe immediately. Not because it was boring or poorly written, but because I just KNEW something awful was going to happen to the main character. I felt she was doomed. And she was.
The last few chapters of the book were so painful to read but utterly mesmerizing. I won't spoil the ending for those who haven't read it. All I'll say is sometimes there is nothing more evil and vindictive than a nun.
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LibraryThing member Talbin
Frost in May, by Antonia White, tells the story of Nanda Grey, a nine year old girl who enters a Catholic convent school in the early 1930s. Her father has only recently converted to Catholicism and wants Nanda to get a solid foundation in the faith. The school caters to many of the upper class
Frost in May is a coming of age story. While there is a long tradition of these types of stories focused on boys, White has made something different by focusing on a girl's experience at boarding school. I think, however, that because I am an American who was raised in a Protestant tradition, I probably missed some of the nuances and social/religious criticism of the book. There was an undercurrent of social class issues which would have probably been quite obvious to an English reader in the 1930s, but which was only hazily apparent to me. Additionally, while I am familiar with Catholicism to some extent, because I was not raised in the tradition I'm sure that some of the religious nuances were lost on me. Overall, Frost in May was an excellently written, well-plotted book, but one which did not resonate for me.
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Catholics in Europe, and Nanda befriends several girls who are in a different social strata than she is. As she grows older, Nanda discovers that she loves literature and music, and while she is inoculated into Catholic dogma, she also finds herself occasionally questioning some of the things she is taught.Frost in May is a coming of age story. While there is a long tradition of these types of stories focused on boys, White has made something different by focusing on a girl's experience at boarding school. I think, however, that because I am an American who was raised in a Protestant tradition, I probably missed some of the nuances and social/religious criticism of the book. There was an undercurrent of social class issues which would have probably been quite obvious to an English reader in the 1930s, but which was only hazily apparent to me. Additionally, while I am familiar with Catholicism to some extent, because I was not raised in the tradition I'm sure that some of the religious nuances were lost on me. Overall, Frost in May was an excellently written, well-plotted book, but one which did not resonate for me.
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LibraryThing member Kasthu
Frost in May is the first Virago Modern Classic that was ever reprinted. It follows the four-year school career of Nanda (short for Fernanda) March, a girl both meek and rebellious at the same time. She enters the Convent of the Five Wounds at the age of nine (and, according to the blurb on the
A good deal of the novel deals with the breaking down of the girls’ wills, so that, as the nuns claim, they can build character. But does this method really work? This, I think, is an underlying theme of the book, and one that White writes about particularly well. The author talks endlessly about all the rules that are imposed upon the girls at school, governing everything from what they can read to who they can be friends with. And many of the rules make no sense to outsiders; as Mrs. March says about exemptions, “exemption from what?” So there’s a certain amount of underhanded satire at work here.
I didn’t like this book as much as I was prepared to, but I did enjoy it. Antonia White was a great writer, but she infuses her story with too much Catholicism. That’s not to say that the tone of this book is overtly religious; I simply didn’t care for the stories that were told. They especially slowed down the plot. So if you’re like ma and aren’t particularly religious, you might dislike these parts of the novel. I think I might have enjoyed them more if I'd had a Catholic upbringing.
However, White depicts really well the rigidity of convent life, highlighting (and sometimes making fun of) the nonsensical strictures the nuns imposed upon the students. Apart from the religious bits, the plot moves along very well, and the ending is just as devastating as promised—all the more so because what Nanda does wouldn’t have been considered so bad in a normal school.
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back of the book, in 1908), staying there until her ignominious disgrace at the age of thirteen. Nanda becomes very familiar with life at the convent school, taking for granted most of what goes on.A good deal of the novel deals with the breaking down of the girls’ wills, so that, as the nuns claim, they can build character. But does this method really work? This, I think, is an underlying theme of the book, and one that White writes about particularly well. The author talks endlessly about all the rules that are imposed upon the girls at school, governing everything from what they can read to who they can be friends with. And many of the rules make no sense to outsiders; as Mrs. March says about exemptions, “exemption from what?” So there’s a certain amount of underhanded satire at work here.
I didn’t like this book as much as I was prepared to, but I did enjoy it. Antonia White was a great writer, but she infuses her story with too much Catholicism. That’s not to say that the tone of this book is overtly religious; I simply didn’t care for the stories that were told. They especially slowed down the plot. So if you’re like ma and aren’t particularly religious, you might dislike these parts of the novel. I think I might have enjoyed them more if I'd had a Catholic upbringing.
However, White depicts really well the rigidity of convent life, highlighting (and sometimes making fun of) the nonsensical strictures the nuns imposed upon the students. Apart from the religious bits, the plot moves along very well, and the ending is just as devastating as promised—all the more so because what Nanda does wouldn’t have been considered so bad in a normal school.
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LibraryThing member nmhale
The story opens with Nanda traveling to her new Catholic school, a convent of the Five Wounds. Although she is not thrilled, Nanda quickly succumbs to the deep ritual and sanctity of the school. Nanda and her parents are Catholic converts, and she loves her new religion, even if she is not always
The majority of the book centers on life in the school. Large sections are dedicated to describing daily school classes and religious services, the many festivals and special holy occasions that pepper the year, and the Catholic lessons taught to students. With the author's clean and intimate style, these sections were easy to read, but not terribly exciting for me. I was much more interested in passages that detailed Nanda's relationships with her classmates. On the other hand, the numerous descriptions of school life painted a completely convincing portrayal of the world that enveloped Nanda. Just as Nanda is shocked to realize, towards the end of the book, how thoroughly her life has been infiltrated by the ideals of her school, I was surprised how much the setting of this book had pulled me in. Once I finished, I discovered that I missed the enclosed esoteric world in this book, despite the fact that I was underwhelmed while reading.
Nanda is a sweet girl, full of subtle contradictions, and relatable to the reader. She is compliant, but a streak of stubborn defiance runs through her and eventually shows up in her school work and participation. She loves her faith and church, but is often frustrated with its clergy (especially the nuns). She wants to be obedient to God, but feels a tug towards the arts and the written word that she feels is at odds with her religion. Nanda makes friends with fascinating minor characters, like Claire and Leonie. Their interactions are the best part of the novel, as the writer strongly presents their bond and the intimacy of a young girl's friendships.
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as fond of the nuns. The short novel traces her experience over the four years she is enrolled in the convent school, focusing on the daily structure of her school, the unrelenting discipline, and her important friendships.The majority of the book centers on life in the school. Large sections are dedicated to describing daily school classes and religious services, the many festivals and special holy occasions that pepper the year, and the Catholic lessons taught to students. With the author's clean and intimate style, these sections were easy to read, but not terribly exciting for me. I was much more interested in passages that detailed Nanda's relationships with her classmates. On the other hand, the numerous descriptions of school life painted a completely convincing portrayal of the world that enveloped Nanda. Just as Nanda is shocked to realize, towards the end of the book, how thoroughly her life has been infiltrated by the ideals of her school, I was surprised how much the setting of this book had pulled me in. Once I finished, I discovered that I missed the enclosed esoteric world in this book, despite the fact that I was underwhelmed while reading.
Nanda is a sweet girl, full of subtle contradictions, and relatable to the reader. She is compliant, but a streak of stubborn defiance runs through her and eventually shows up in her school work and participation. She loves her faith and church, but is often frustrated with its clergy (especially the nuns). She wants to be obedient to God, but feels a tug towards the arts and the written word that she feels is at odds with her religion. Nanda makes friends with fascinating minor characters, like Claire and Leonie. Their interactions are the best part of the novel, as the writer strongly presents their bond and the intimacy of a young girl's friendships.
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LibraryThing member ccookie
First line:
~Nanda was on her way to the Convent of the Five Wounds~
My first official read of a Virago Modern Classic, and I enjoyed it very much,. Perhaps enjoyed is not quite the right word since at times the book was horrifying in terms of the emotional abuse that the young protagonist suffered
I did find the story a little slow to latch on to and until about half way through I was wondering why I was bothering because so little seemed to be happening and I tend to prefer more action in my novels. However, the tide turned and I could hardly put the book down, wanting to find out what happened next and what the fate of our little girl was. A sad commentary on what we put young girls through at that time.
Overall I give this 3.5 stars
~Nanda was on her way to the Convent of the Five Wounds~
My first official read of a Virago Modern Classic, and I enjoyed it very much,. Perhaps enjoyed is not quite the right word since at times the book was horrifying in terms of the emotional abuse that the young protagonist suffered
Show More
at the hands of the nuns at her convent school. But so well written! And I really felt for Nanda and the trials through which her faith never wavered. I did find the story a little slow to latch on to and until about half way through I was wondering why I was bothering because so little seemed to be happening and I tend to prefer more action in my novels. However, the tide turned and I could hardly put the book down, wanting to find out what happened next and what the fate of our little girl was. A sad commentary on what we put young girls through at that time.
Overall I give this 3.5 stars
Show Less
LibraryThing member ccookie
First line:
~Nanda was on her way to the Convent of the Five Wounds~
My first official read of a Virago Modern Classic, and I enjoyed it very much,. Perhaps enjoyed is not quite the right word since at times the book was horrifying in terms of the emotional abuse that the young protagonist suffered
I did find the story a little slow to latch on to and until about half way through I was wondering why I was bothering because so little seemed to be happening and I tend to prefer more action in my novels. However, the tide turned and I could hardly put the book down, wanting to find out what happened next and what the fate of our little girl was. A sad commentary on what we put young girls through at that time.
Overall I give this 3.5 stars
~Nanda was on her way to the Convent of the Five Wounds~
My first official read of a Virago Modern Classic, and I enjoyed it very much,. Perhaps enjoyed is not quite the right word since at times the book was horrifying in terms of the emotional abuse that the young protagonist suffered
Show More
at the hands of the nuns at her convent school. But so well written! And I really felt for Nanda and the trials through which her faith never wavered. I did find the story a little slow to latch on to and until about half way through I was wondering why I was bothering because so little seemed to be happening and I tend to prefer more action in my novels. However, the tide turned and I could hardly put the book down, wanting to find out what happened next and what the fate of our little girl was. A sad commentary on what we put young girls through at that time.
Overall I give this 3.5 stars
Show Less
LibraryThing member ccookie
First line:
~Nanda was on her way to the Convent of the Five Wounds~
My first official read of a Virago Modern Classic, and I enjoyed it very much,. Perhaps enjoyed is not quite the right word since at times the book was horrifying in terms of the emotional abuse that the young protagonist suffered
I did find the story a little slow to latch on to and until about half way through I was wondering why I was bothering because so little seemed to be happening and I tend to prefer more action in my novels. However, the tide turned and I could hardly put the book down, wanting to find out what happened next and what the fate of our little girl was. A sad commentary on what we put young girls through at that time.
Overall I give this 3.5 stars
~Nanda was on her way to the Convent of the Five Wounds~
My first official read of a Virago Modern Classic, and I enjoyed it very much,. Perhaps enjoyed is not quite the right word since at times the book was horrifying in terms of the emotional abuse that the young protagonist suffered
Show More
at the hands of the nuns at her convent school. But so well written! And I really felt for Nanda and the trials through which her faith never wavered. I did find the story a little slow to latch on to and until about half way through I was wondering why I was bothering because so little seemed to be happening and I tend to prefer more action in my novels. However, the tide turned and I could hardly put the book down, wanting to find out what happened next and what the fate of our little girl was. A sad commentary on what we put young girls through at that time.
Overall I give this 3.5 stars
Show Less
LibraryThing member janeajones
Frost in May is a school-book about a young girl moving into adolescence in a repressive Catholic convent school. In an interview White said that this book, her first, was her own story. While White writes well, I found the heavy dose of Roman Catholicism, the focus on breaking the girls' wills,
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and the enclosed, repressive atmosphere a bit much. I may have to go back and re-read The Secret Garden, Heidi or Eight Cousins as an antidote. (read in 2010) Show Less
LibraryThing member laytonwoman3rd
This is a Virago Modern Classic, in fact the first book issued in that series. It is the story of a young girl coming of age in a convent school in the years just before World War I. To my thoroughly protestant and currently non-observant-of-anything outlook, this is the story of the systematic
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destruction of minds and souls in the name of "love" and obedience to an utterly perverse supreme being. Any expression of joy, kindness or love for fellow humans, appreciation of beauty, or even excellence is somehow suspect, and if taken too far, grounds for mortification. Our protagonist, Fernanda Grey, struggles with her desire to be a proper Catholic set against her terror that she may receive the "call" and be destined to take the veil, or worse, that she will miss the message, and be doomed to live life having rejected a vocation without realizing it. This reminds me of the terror of MY adolescence, born of precisely the same adult-fostered ignorance, that any number of perfectly innocent interactions with boys might result in having a baby. The most disturbing thing about this novel, I think, is that I'm not sure whether the author means us to feel what I feel while reading it, or whether she is presenting Nanda's story as some sort of cautionary tale. I suspect this will be made clearer in White's three "sequel" novels, and as cranky as this one made me, I am contrarily eager to read those too. Show Less
LibraryThing member LisaMorr
This is the first Virago Modern Classic published. A nine-year old girl enters a convent for schooling - her father has recently converted to Catholicism and wants her to learn what it means to be a Catholic. It explains in a very detailed way what life was like in the convent, what she studied in
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class, the rhythm of the days, feast days, celebrations and retreats. Her relationships with her classmates and the nuns are explored. She embraces it but it leads to a bad ending when she leaves the convent at fourteen. Show Less
LibraryThing member akblanchard
Young Nanda Grey has a pious nature and wants nothing more than to be a good Catholic girl, but the stifling, rigid atmosphere of her convent school, where creativity is frowned upon and "particular friendships" are strongly discouraged, threatens to destroy her sense of self. Although the novel
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drags in places, especially when the reader is subjected to Nanda's retreat notes on Catholic doctrine, I do want to read more by Antonia White. Show Less
LibraryThing member japaul22
The Virago group is doing themed monthly reads and the first was "Nuns, Teachers, and Governesses". I have about 6 unread viragos on my shelf, so I'm trying to read them when they fit a category. I had never read [Frost in May], which is Virago #1, so I took the opportunity and I'm so glad I
[Frost in May] is about a young girl whose father has recently converted to Catholicism. He sends her to a conservative Catholic boarding school. There, 9 year old Nanda whole-heartedly discovers the Catholic faith, makes friends, and begins to know herself. She is immersed in the closed world of the convent, where self-control, discipline, and humility are demanded of these young children. The glimmers of non-conformity come from a few of her friends at the convent who have more worldly families and from Nanda's mother, who during brief visits, obviously shows that she does not buy in to the system. Though internally Nanda embraces the lifestyle, some of her actions don't fit with the convent rules and the book does not end happily from Nanda's point of view.
I unexpectedly found this book delightful. There is a subtle and slightly subversive humor throughout from the author, but at the same time she perfectly captures the rigidity of a child's mind as it opens up through the teen years.
I would love to know more about the politics/cultural ramifications of converting to Catholicism in England in the early 1900s. I'm curious if there was a deeper cultural statement being made in the book that I didn't have the background to comprehend.
Original publication date: 1933, Virago publication date 1978 (#1)
Author’s nationality: British
Original language: English
Length: 221 pages
Rating: 4 stars
Format/where I acquired the book: given to me by Barbara/romain from the Virago group
Why I read this: virago monthly challenge
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did![Frost in May] is about a young girl whose father has recently converted to Catholicism. He sends her to a conservative Catholic boarding school. There, 9 year old Nanda whole-heartedly discovers the Catholic faith, makes friends, and begins to know herself. She is immersed in the closed world of the convent, where self-control, discipline, and humility are demanded of these young children. The glimmers of non-conformity come from a few of her friends at the convent who have more worldly families and from Nanda's mother, who during brief visits, obviously shows that she does not buy in to the system. Though internally Nanda embraces the lifestyle, some of her actions don't fit with the convent rules and the book does not end happily from Nanda's point of view.
I unexpectedly found this book delightful. There is a subtle and slightly subversive humor throughout from the author, but at the same time she perfectly captures the rigidity of a child's mind as it opens up through the teen years.
I would love to know more about the politics/cultural ramifications of converting to Catholicism in England in the early 1900s. I'm curious if there was a deeper cultural statement being made in the book that I didn't have the background to comprehend.
Original publication date: 1933, Virago publication date 1978 (#1)
Author’s nationality: British
Original language: English
Length: 221 pages
Rating: 4 stars
Format/where I acquired the book: given to me by Barbara/romain from the Virago group
Why I read this: virago monthly challenge
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LibraryThing member brenzi
Set in the early 1900s, Nanda is nine years old when her father enrolls her in the convent school outside of London called Convent of the Five Wounds. She quickly learns, in this closed society, that she has to please only God. And, of course, the stodgy, cruel nuns that run the place. (I can say
I followed it up by listening to the Backlisted podcast about the book and it was absolutely wonderful and revealed that the book was very autobiographical and played parts of an interview with the author from the 60s.
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that, as a lapsed Catholic who has had my fill of nuns.) There was a little too much of the holy affairs in the early part of the book but then as Nanda grew up to be a teenager there was a sense of dread that somehow her attention to the rules was slipping and the nuns were going to catch her doing something they didn't allow which was just about anything really. The author was great at character development and creating this sense of doom.I followed it up by listening to the Backlisted podcast about the book and it was absolutely wonderful and revealed that the book was very autobiographical and played parts of an interview with the author from the 60s.
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LibraryThing member ivanfranko
Fernanda Gray discovers early that the world is not fair despite her innocent attempt to create something worthwhile at the convent she attends. The nuns take an opposite view to the modern idea of "self-esteem" being a virtue.
This is a very good book, accurate in its detail concerning a Catholic
This is a very good book, accurate in its detail concerning a Catholic
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girls boarding establishment in the first decades of the Twentieth Century, and is a good example of an autobiographical novel. Show Less
Subjects
Awards
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1933
ISBN
0860680495 / 9780860680499
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DDC/MDS
| 823.912 |