A heartbreaking story of friendship and betrayal - can we ever forgive the ones we love the most?

'Prep meets The Secret History meets Mean Girls - a stunning debut novel' Esther Walker, author of The Bad Mother

1996. Freya Seymour and Josephine Grey are invincible - beautiful and brilliant, the two best friends are on the cusp of Oxbridge, and the success they always dreamed they'd share.

2014. Freya gets in touch, looking for a conversation Josephine has run away from for eighteen long and tortured years.

Beginning with one ill-fated night, The Exclusives charts the agonising spiral of friendship gone wrong, the heartache and betrayal of letting down those closest to you and the poisonous possibilities of what we wouldn't do when everything we prize is placed under threat.

And in the end, as she realises she cannot run for ever, Josephine must answer one question: is it Freya she cannot face, or is it her own darkest secret?

'Utterly gripping' Esther Freud

'Compellingly dark, brilliantly gripping: Rebecca Thornton takes a scalpel to the heart of female friendship.' - Elizabeth Day, author of Scissors, Paper, Stone

A heartbreaking story of friendship and betrayal - can we ever forgive the ones we love the most?

About the Author
Rebecca Thornton is an alumna of the Faber Academy Writing A Novel course, where she was tutored by Esther Freud and Tim Lott. Her writing has been published in Prospect Magazine, The Guardian, You Magazine, Daily Mail and The Sunday People, The Jewish News, amongst others. She has reported from the Middle East, Kosovo and the UK. She now lives in West London with her husband and two sons.

Reviews
Compellingly dark, brilliantly gripping: Rebecca Thornton takes a scalpel to the heart of female friendship. -- Elizabeth Day
A very accomplished novel that had me eagerly turning the pages to find out exactly what happened . . . I'm looking forward to reading more from her -- The Haphazardous Hippo blog
Neglecting work, household chores and husbands because I can't get my nose our of my Kindle thanks to Rebecca Thornton's brilliantly unputdownable debut novel, The Exclusives. -- 3 bad mice blog
Dark. Emotional.... This is the kind of story you need to be prepared to sit down and absorb properly...if you like emotional reads that will stay with you then this comes. Highly recommended! * Buried Under Books Blog *
An exploration of friendship, betrayal and the dark, disturbing, far reaching effects down the years. What emerged is something that's very, very good...We're in total suspense and want to be there at the end for the girls' sake. When the end comes, it may be tied off rather neatly, but it's an ending of just desserts and is worth every chewed nail we collect on the way. * The Bookbag *
A cracking read...the friendship between two girls at a privileged boarding school is ripped apart by the events of a single night... -- Cathy Rentzenbrink * Prima Magazine *
Our Top 5 Reads....Two former pupils must try to overcome a dark secret. Gripping. -- Isabelle Broom * Heat Magazine *
The culture of secrets at an elite boarding school results in a dramatic betrayal. Twenty years later it is still causing ripples that threaten to ruin lives. * Elle Magazine *
A boarding school novel with a hint of The Secret History... Thornton ensures that the reader is engaged to the end, and is keen to see how both plot strands pan out. * The Workshy Fop Blog *
A fascinating insight into an all-girls environment, with the dynamics and interactions. I like the fact this story shows the darker side of boarding school life and the lengths pupils will go to achieve their aims. * Between the Lines Blog *
Rebecca Thornton is great at creating tension...I couldn't read through the chapters fast enough...brilliant...I love Rebecca Thornton's vivid writing style. She has a great way of describing settings and situations which made me feel the huge variety of emotions in the story very well. I absolutely loved this fantastic book and highly recommend it.? * Withloveforbooks.com *
The major achievement of The Exclusives is the maintenance of suspense...The Exclusives is like a nasty Malory Towers, or a grown-up version of the Chalet School, with the terrible striving at its heart exposed. It's dark and cruel and in some places melodramatic, but it sure as hell makes you want to know what happened. * Elle Thinks Blog *
Thornton is excellent at depicting the minutiae of female friendship. Her storytelling is careful and lucid, and as I said the whole thing is structured in such a way that you are both engaged and enthralled, waiting to see what comes next. * theselittlewords.com *
I wish I could give this book 6 stars! I absolutely love this book! It is clever and intense; sometimes too intense. There are constant twists in the story, that you may be able to work out if you are a fan of mystery, but overall it keeps you reading until the very last word. * Breakaway Reviewers *
Thornton writes perceptively about how quickly and destructively female friendships can break down * The Sun *
A fascinating take on trauma, tragedy and the claustrophobic intensity of female friendships * wearandwhere.com *
An engrossing novel about girls, friendship and secrets set in a boarding school - think Malory Towers gone bad! * Good Housekeeping Magazine *
This isn't just about female friendship and the dangers contained within, it's more like Donna Tartt's The Secret History meets Curtis Sittenfeld's Prep * Readers Digest *
The Exclusives by Rebecca Thornton is an amazing novel about girls, friendship and secrets set in a boarding school - think Mallory Towers gone bad! * Goodhousekeeping.co.uk *
There's definitely a 'mean girls' element to The Exclusives and readers of YA, NA and those who enjoy dissecting friendships and their demise will enjoy it * carpelibrum.net *
Brilliantly dissects the fragmenting friendship between two apparently gilded girls. But after the terrible events of one night, their lives spiral wildly out of control and into darkness. So gripping, it's edge-of-your-sunlounger stuff * Hush *



Book Information
ISBN 9781785770128
Author Rebecca Thornton
Format Paperback
Page Count 384
Imprint twenty7
Publisher twenty7
Weight(grams) 308g
Dimensions(mm) 197mm * 127mm * 27mm