Vera Lundy accepts a substitute teaching position in an
upscale private high school for girls in Dorset, Maine.
Her
new position is teaching English. This is a change in
her life, for she's used to teaching other courses to
college students. She's quite surprised at the
intelligence
of the girls she teaches. Her first assignment is for the
girls to read and discuss "Cather in the Rye"and as time
goes by, she and her students warm up to each other, many
discussions are carried on in the classroom.
Sadly, there has
been a murder of a young local girl. Vera has rented out a
small studio apartment and must make visits to the local
library for most of her information. She is also writing a
book on crime and she becomes deeply involved in not only
the most recent murder, but others that follow. Actually,
Vera is addicted to crime cases and her mind is always
trying to figure out the facts for herself and considers
herself a true criminal profiler.
When she gets information that Ritchie Oueltte is being
held for the murder of Angela Galvez, an eleven year old
girl,
she persists on following up on it with her own wit and
knowledge. When she arrives home one day from being at the
library, she finds an interesting email to her from a
student she will be teaching. Jensen Willard strikes Vera
as a young girl that has excellent writing skills and is
very intelligent. Jensen asks Vera in the email if Vera
can
give her some information that she will need on
reading, "Cather in the Rye". Vera holds off until she
meets all her new students. What puzzles Vera is that
Jensen took the time to track down Vera's teacher's email
and truly believes the girl will be a hard worker.
In the classroom the next morning, Vera awaits her
students
arrival. One by one they enter the classroom. The night
before she tried to memorize her students names to make it
easier on her and them. She recognizes some of them as
they enter, especially Sufia Ahmed, a pretty Somali girl
wearing a hijab. A small dark haired girl wearing a shabby
dress arrives late. Another two pretty girls who seem
joined at the hip. Jensen Willard is the girl in the
shabby
dress, but she declines to join in the introductions as
her
classmates have done. When the girls are done, telling a
bit of themselves, Vera tells them that she's writing a
true crime book. Her students become entailed on the topic
and want to talk of the recent Galvez case. Vera feels
it's
not the time to talk of the local murder of the young
girl,
so she deters them to talk about the class assignment she
has given them. Little does she know how close she will
become with one of her students and Vera's life will
become
a rollacoaster of a ride on murder and suspects.
WHAT HAS BECOME OF YOU by Jan Elizabeth Watson drew me in
from page one as Ms. Watson is an author one does not want
to miss! A recommended read!
What if a teacher’s most promising pupil is also her
most
dangerous? A tautly plotted psychological thriller, as
intelligent as it is mesmerizingWhat Has Become of You follows Vera Lundy, an
aspiring crime writer and master of self-deprecation who,
like many adults, has survived adolescence but hasn’t
entirely overcome it. When she agrees to fill in for a
private school English teacher on maternity leave,
teaching
The Catcher in the Rye to privileged girls, Vera
feels in over her head. The students are on edge, too, due
to the recent murder of a local girl close to their
age.
Enter Jensen Willard. At fifteen she’s
already
a gifted writer but also self-destructive and eerily
reminiscent of Vera’s younger self. As the two outcasts
forge a tentative bond, a sense of menace enfolds their
small New England town. When another student, new to the
country, is imperiled by her beliefs, Vera finds herself
in
the vortex of danger—and suspicion.
With the threat of a killer at large, the disappearance of
her increasingly worrisome pupil, and her own professional
reputation at stake, Vera must thread her way among what
is
right by the law, by her students, and by herself. In this
poignant page-turner, populated with beguiling characters
and sharp social insights, coming-of-age can happen no
matter how old you are.
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