A College Girl

Darsie is the second daughter in a perpetually crowded household, her future as limited as the rooms she shares with her many siblings, until an ailing aunt offers her an escape. Sent to serve as companion, Darsie enters a world of polished manners and social maneuvering, befriending the wealthy Vernon family whose patronage transforms her quiet life into something far more animated. But beneath the humor and society drama lies a sharper question: what does a young woman actually want from her own life? The answer arrives with her aunt's death and an unexpected inheritance. Cambridge awaits, a university still pioneering in women's education, a world of lectures and ideas and possibilities previously closed to girls like Darsie. Sheembarks on her college years with wit and determination, navigating academic challenges, new friendships, and the tender complications of romance. De Horne Vaizey captures a transitional moment in women's history with lightness and warmth, creating a protagonist whose ambitions feel startlingly modern despite the century between her world and ours. For readers who loved The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society or wanted more of Jo March's academic dreams.