The Hysterical Girls of St. Bernadette’s by Hanna Alkaf

This 352 page young adult mystery, thriller could possibly be classified as magical realism, or speculative fiction, I’m not really sure, but I do know, that my expectations were really low, and I was so pleasantly surprised by how the story pulled me in and kept me engaged.  Told primarily by dual points of view, Khadijah and Rachel, the book offers commentary on sexual assault and believing victims.  The book starts with a trigger warning of “ghosts and monsters, some of whom hide beneath human faces. It includes discussions and descriptions of sexual assault, trauma, and PTSD,” before diving in to a prestigious Malaysian girls school full of secrets, hysteria, and a past that seems to be repeating itself.  There are no religious identity crisis or issues, the student body is diverse and it is a non-issue, Khadijah recites Ayat ul Kursi, makes time to pray, and wears hijab as she tries to figure out what is making the students at St. Bernadette’s scream, what happened to those that have gone missing, and how to overcome the trauma that has made her stop speaking.  The symbolism is solid, the book starts out with the screams, but builds on it by adding backstory to the main characters, mystery with the disappearance, and numerous red herrings to keep the reader guessing.  I told myself to get to the midpoint before calling it quits, but once I was there, I read the second half of the book in one sitting. I appreciated that the book was unique, there was no relationship side stories, the cultural authenticity heightened the reading experience, and that I understood the haunting magical elements.

SYNOPSIS:

St. Bernadette’s is an old prestigious all-girls school, but one day a chain reaction of girls screaming starts and the hysteria doesn’t seem to be stopping any time soon.  When Khadijah, who is dealing with her own trauma of being sexually assaulted by her step-father, starts to look into the causes, more questions than answers arise.  In efforts to protect her younger sister, Khadijah discovers not only has this happened as their school before, but it doesn’t stop with the screaming, and the shadows, last time a girl went missing.

Rachel’s life is controlled by her single mother, who is determined that Rachel is successful and a reflection of how perfect and successful they are, despite, Rachel’s father abandoning them.  When in an act of rebellion Rachel signs up for monologue competition, she plans to get into character, not to become the character.  As Rachel starts to lose her self to the girl with pink lipstick and white ribbons in her hair, she starts to notice sights and sounds around the school, but when she falls victim to the screaming hysteria herself, will anyone care enough to save her?

WHY I LIKE IT:

So often with magical realism, I honestly don’t get it, so I’m not sure if my excitement of having it all be clear means the book was a bit simplistic, if I’m getting better the more of the genre I read, or if the writing was just good.  If I’m being honest, it is probably a little bit of all of it.  Often with the author’s book, the story is really good, until it is not, and I honestly feel like this is her best book yet, with the threads coming through, the ending feeling satisfying, the pacing being consistent, and the plot not getting lost on tangents and over explanation.

I loved the symbolism of screaming and it being largely brushed aside as society’s collective apathy to victims of sexual assault.  No one at the school has answers, no one likes questions being asked, everyone just wants to carry on as if nothing is happening, and the juxtaposition of the silence and the hysteria for me was powerful. A few plot holes were the result of telling over showing such as the case of the Khadijah and her sisters relationship, but that Khadijah stayed largely silent throughout the book, did not mean she was unable to communicate or not present, and I thought it was shown in a meaningful way.

I liked that the overbearing mom, with high expectations, and lacking emotional maturity was not from the Muslim parent, at least in Western literature, that is a common trope.  But it is worth noting that presumably the rapists mentioned in the story are Muslim.  Their faith is not a factor, but I noticed, and so I do feel that should be shared.

FLAGS:

Sexual assault, ptsd, rape, kidnapping, trauma, hysteria, lying, ghosts, monsters, magic, fear

TOOLS FOR LEADING THE DISCUSSION:
I think this would be a great high school book club read.  The conversation about sexual assault, both in the story and in real life would be important to have in a safe space.  The triggers would require some evaluation if the book is a good fit, but I think the elements that unfold and the commentary on expectation, honesty, trauma, monsters, etc. would create incredible discussion.