The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls

Twelve-year-old Victoria, a perfect and rule-following girl, must confront the sinister reality of the Cavendish Home, a reformatory where imperfect children are sent to be 'fixed' by the monstrous Mrs. Cavendish. A genuinely creepy and darkly humorous novel about conformity and the courage to be imperfect.

Content Ratings

No Romance

There is no romantic content; Victoria's relationships are based on her journey from perfectionism to genuine friendship.

Intense Themes

The novel is an allegory about the danger of enforced conformity and the cruelty of systems that punish difference; Victoria must unlearn perfectionism and embrace her own flaws; themes of institutional abuse, the terror of being trapped, and the necessity of rebellion are emotionally intense.

Moderate Violence

Children are imprisoned, transformed, and psychologically tortured in the Cavendish Home; Mrs. Cavendish is a truly frightening villain; the threat to the children is sustained and intense; violence is psychological and supernatural rather than graphic.