Welcome spring and thoughts of PROM!
After winter break, the girls at the very prestigious
Longbourn Academy become obsessed with the prom. Lizzie
Bennet, who attends Longbourn on a scholarship, isnβt
interested in designer dresses and expensive shoes, but her
best friend, Jane, might be β especially now that Charles
Bingley is back from a semester in London.
Lizzie
is happy about her friendβs burgeoning romance but less than
impressed by Charlesβs friend, Will Darcy, whoβs snobby and
pretentious. Darcy doesnβt seem to like Lizzie either, but
she assumes itβs because her family doesnβt have money.
Clearly, Will Darcy is a pompous jerk β so why does Lizzie
find herself drawn to him anyway?
Will Lizzieβs
pride and Willβs prejudice keep them apart? Or are they a
prom couple in the making? Whatever the result, Elizabeth
Eulberg, author of The Lonely Hearts Club, has concocted a
very funny, completely stylish delight for any season β prom
or otherwise.
Excerpt It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single girl
of high standing at Longbourn Academy must be in want of a
prom date.
While the same can probably be said of countless other
schools across the country, prom at Longbourn isnβt just a
rite of passage β itβs considered by many (at least those
who matter) to be the social event for future
members of high society. Longbourn girls donβt go to the
mall to get their dresses. No, they boast couture from
designers whose names adorn their speed dial.
Just look at the glossy six-page spread dedicated to more
than a century of prom history in Longbournβs recruitment
brochure. Or the yearly coverage in The New York
Times Sunday Style section⦠or Vanity Fair⦠or
Vogue. Fashion reporters and photographers flock to
the Connecticut campus to scope out the fashion, the excess,
the glamour of it all. It is Fashion Week for the silver
spoon set.
The tradition started in 1895, the first year Longbourn
opened up its doors. Originally set up as a finishing
school for proper ladies, the founders realized they needed
to have an event to usher their students into the elite
world. And while girls nowadays donβt really need to be
formally βwelcomedβ into society, nobody wants to give up a
weekend-long excuse to dress up and attempt to outshine one
another. Friday night is the reception where the couples
(consisting of Longbourn girls and, for the most part, boys
from the neighboring Pemberley Academy) are introduced.
Saturday night is the main event and Sunday afternoon is a
brunch where reporters interview the students about the
previous evening.
Students become fixated on prom from the day they get
accepted. To not attend, or have the proper date, would be
a scandal from which a young girl would never be able to
recover.
Imagine the chaos that erupted a few years ago, when a
scholarship student not only snagged the most sought-after
boy at Pemberley, but showed up in a dress from Macyβs (the
horror!) and caught the eye of the New York Times
reporter, who ended up putting her, and her story, on the
cover of the Style section.
Up to that point, most students tolerated the two
scholarship students in each class. But this was too much.
The following year, hazing began. Most scholarship students
couldnβt last more than two years. The program only
continued because the Board of Trustees was adamant about
diversifying the student body (and by diversify, they meant
having students whose parents didnβt earn seven-figure
yearly bonuses). Plus, the scholarship students, often
called βcharity cases,β helped boost the academic record and
music program.
Given the opportunities, education-wise, the scholarship
students try to put up with the behavior. After all, this
kind of experience couldnβt have happened at home. So there
was a price to pay for the best teachers, resources and
connections. That priceβ condescension, taunts, pranks β
got old pretty quickly.
Itβs not easy, though. It only took the new scholarship
girl in the junior class two days before she broke down into
tears. Fortunately, she was alone in her room and nobody
saw her. But it happened.
I should know. Because that was my room, and my tears.
I was a scholarship student. A charity case.
One of them.
There was a giant target on my back.
And I had to do everything possible to avoid getting hit.
Start Reading PROM AND PREJUDICE Now
Our Past Week of Fresh Picks
|
© 2003-2026