Praise for Saving Miss Oliver’s
“It’s no surprise that Saving Miss Oliver’s is informed by a compassionate knowledge of the lives of all people who inhabit independent schools. After all, the book’s author spent years teaching at and leading this kind of institution, and later was one of the nation’s top school consultants. He knows the territory.
What may surprise, though, is that the book is such a strong, beautifully wrought, engaging novel. As one reads along, it becomes clear that Davenport writes much too well and feels far too deeply for his complex, passionately human characters to resort to the hype and melodrama that so often maim “school novels.” Rather, he creates his figures and then lets them live, struggle, and develop in ways that are frequently moving and always honestly related.
In other words, the book steps beyond its genre. And in so doing it powerfully reminds us that real people are at the heart of any first-rate school. Their integrity, strength of character, hope for the world, and courage are the capital good schools are always built on. Davenport knows this. At the end of Saving Miss Oliver’s, so will you.”—Peter Tacy, Former Executive Director of the Association of Independent Schools and Head of the Marvelwood School, Kent, CT
“This book caught me by surprise—a surprise I would recommend to everyone. On the face of it, the story is about a difficult leadership transition in a well-established girls’ school that is experiencing hard times. It is much more. Mr. Davenport weaves an intricate tapestry of institutional and cultural history, and minefields in independent school leadership. His characters jump off the page and made me keep reading to find out what they were thinking, how they developed, and what they did next. I was enthralled by the stories within the story and moved to tears by the strength and bravery of the characters who so quickly became my friends and acquaintances. This is a story of struggle and disappointment, but most of all, it is a story about wisdom and hope.”—Jessie-Lea Abbott, Head of School, Katherine Delmar Burke School, San Francisco, CA
“Steve Davenport is a consummate schoolmaster and a gifted writer. In this splendid first novel, Davenport builds on all the other exceptional “school” novels: The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, The Rector of Justin, The Headmaster’s Papers and The River King. Saving Miss Oliver’s is a must read for anyone who appreciates the seasons of a school’s life and the lives of people who make schools work.”—Peter Buttenheim, Sanford School, Hockessin, DE
“Steve Davenport’s novel is fast-paced, entertaining and singularly evocative of the pressure-cooker atmosphere of a boarding school. Steve knows schools, and he brings us face to face with their passions, their absurdities and their virtues—especially when it comes to schools for girls.”—Rachel Belash, Former Head of Miss Porter’s School, Farmington, CT
“Saving Miss Oliver’s is a fascinating novel, a school story vibrant with personalities, crises, hopes, idealism, laughter, tears, struggle and soaring spirit. Anyone who has ever been a student or administrator or trustee or parent in a school will find the book riveting, and will stop again and again with recognition, shock and delight. The reader will care intensely about the persons and events in this book, the drama and comedy alive in it.”—David Mallery, Seminar Leader and Consultant to Schools in the U.S. and Abroad
“If you are an educator and care about leadership and the role played by change in the life of a school, read this wonderful book.”—Rod Napier, President of the Napier Group, Consultant, and Author of The Courage to Act and Intentional Design and the Process of Change
SAVING MISS OLIVER’S
SAVING MISS OLIVER’S
A NOVEL
STEPHEN DAVENPORT
Text © 2018 by Stephen Davenport
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to real people or schools of any of the characters or schools in the novel is coincidental and unintended.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Davenport, Stephen, author.
Title: Saving Miss Oliver’s : a novel / by Stephen Davenport.
Description: Berkeley, CA : Graphic Arts Books, [2018]
Identifiers: LCCN 2018005418 | ISBN 9781513261317 (softcover) | ISBN 9781513261324 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781513261331 (ebk.)
Subjects: LCSH: Women school principals--Fiction. | Boarding schools--Fiction. | Teaching--Fiction. | Girls--Fiction.
Classification: LCC PS3604.A9427 S28 2018 | DDC 813/.6--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018005418
Front Cover: Raymond Forbes LLC/Stocksy.com
Excerpt from “Home Burial,” copyright 1969 by Robert Frost. Reprinted by permission of Henry Holt and Company, LCC.
Excerpt from “Two Tramps in Mud Time,” by Robert Frost.
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CONTENTS