MRS. S

Katherine Littrell's sultry voice is as lucious and irresistible as Patrick's prose in this steamy coming-of-age novel about a young woman who falls in love with the much older wife of the headmaster at the elite girls school where she works. Much of the novel takes place deep inside the unnamed protagonist's mind as she analyzes her own desires. Littrell masterfully voices her internal turmoil, alongside the sexy and often fraught scenes between her and Mrs. S. Littrell's characterization of the housemistress, the only other queer person in the narrator's life, is especially poignant. The scenes between the narrator and the housemistress come alive with laughter and camaraderie, in contrast to the pained intensity of the rest of the novel. L.S. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine [Published: JULY 2023]