From the beloved author of When You Read This, a smart, sharply observed novel about gender and class on a contemporary Southern college campus in the spirit of The Female Persuasion and Prep.
Carter University: âThe Harvard of the South.â
Annie Stoddard was the smartest girl in her small public high school in Georgia, but now that sheâs at Carter, it feels like sheâs got âScholarship Studentâ written on her forehead.
Bea Powers put aside misgivings about attending college in the South as a biracial student to take part in Carterâs Justice Scholars program. But even within that rarefied circle of people trying to change the world, it seems everyone has a different idea of what justice is.
Stayja York goes to Carter every day, too, but she isnât a student. She works at the Coffee Bean, doling out almond milk lattes to entitled co-eds, while trying to put out fires on the home front and save for her own education.
Their three lives intersect unexpectedly when Annie accuses fourth-year student Tyler Brand of sexual assault. Once Bea is assigned as Tylerâs student advocate, the girls find themselves on opposite sides as battle lines are drawn across the picture-perfect campusâand Stayja finds herself invested in the caseâs outcome, too.
Told through the viewpoints of Annie, Bea, and Stayja, Privilege is a bracingly clear-eyed look at todayâs campus politics, and a riveting story of three young women making their way in a world not built for them.