Special Topics in Calamity Physics - Marisha Pessl

First novel by a young American writer, telling the story of Harvard Freshman Blue van der Meer's life - in particular, her final year of high school. Having lost her mother in a car crash at the age of 4, Blue is raised by her eccentric Swiss/German father, who has made his way in America as a leading economist. Following his wife's death, Gareth van der Meer becomes a travelling academic, taking Blue from town to town while maintaining a constant regime designed to educate, cultivate and mould young Blue into a highly educated, culturally literate adult. For her final year, her father chooses to suspend their nomadic lifestyle and put down roots, in order to send Blue to an elite prep school. Here she is invited to join a circle of protgs under the guidance of Hannah, one of the school's teachers. There follows a story of mysterious disappearances and a violent and unexplained death, which is to haunt the group - and Blue particularly, who searches for the truth behind the murder - for some time to come. This is a moving and comic novel, reminiscent of THE SECRET HISTORY - beautifully crafted, witty and extraordinarily compelling.