Prep meets The Marriage Plot in this uproarious debut novel, a send-up of campus life starring one singularly unprepared, socially maladroit, charmingly clueless freshman named Penelope

Meet Penelope O'Shaughnessy, Harvard freshman.

Armed with her Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights poster and party conversation modelled on the repartee of Noel Coward, Penelope is ready to take her place on campus. But where are the kindred spirits who will share her passion for Morse code and Tetris? Penelope's roommates, over-achieving Emma and the sullen Lan, seem to have already got to grips with university life, and she is finding it hard to work out if the dashing but elusive Gustav matches up to her hero, Hercule Poirot.

Penelope follows our heroine's progress through her first year among America's elite, as she navigates the mysteries of life, love, inappropriate tutors, marionette operation and how to kiss on both cheeks and avoid disaster.

'Full of wit, insight and wonderful characters . . . no new student (still less their parents) should be without this superb comedy of university life'
Wendy Holden, Daily Mail

'[A] witty coming-of-age debut'
Grazia

'A debut novel that is refreshing, pleasantly absurd, and highly addictive. Penelope is a character who would describe herself as awkward and forgettable. Awkward: yes. Forgettable: absolutely not' Kaui Hart Hemmings, bestselling author of The Descendants

'Irresistible'
ELLE

A witty coming-of-age debut