Book Review: Cum Laude

Thursday, 26 August 2010 13:29

INsite sat down for a phone interview with Gossip Girl author Cecily von Ziegesar to discuss her new novel Cum Laude, out since June.

By Lane Nieset

Cum Laude tells the story of the parts of college we are all too familiar with: first loves, new friends, and, of course, keg parties. The story takes place at Dexter College, a small college in Maine similar to the one author Cecily von Ziegesar attended.

Shipley, who is instantly the object of every boy’s desire, is shy at first, but soon starts to embrace college life and rebel against her good-girl image. Her roommate, Eliza, wants to appear anything but good. With her “razor-straight black bangs” and outgoing personality, Eliza hopes to make a name for herself at Dexter. She even becomes the nude model for an art course. During the orientation camping trip, the girls are paired with Tom, the Nate to Shipley’s Serena, and Nick, a vegetarian from Manhattan who wants to build a yurt on campus. Although these four become quick friends, things start to change when Shipley and Tom start dating and having sleepovers in the dorm.

Author Cecily decided to write a novel about college, but she didn’t want to alienate her audience at the same time. “I felt like I was ready to try something new, and college seemed like a logical next step,” she said in a phone interview. The story is set in 1992, the same year she graduated from Colby College, a small liberal arts school. “I feel like even though the college experience is a universal one . . . the story I wanted to tell was more appropriate in a time that I was in college.” Most of us couldn’t imagine college without the Internet or cell phones, but the story is more about college life in general.

Unlike her other novels, Cum Laude doesn’t focus so much on gossip or designer brands (because there aren’t store like that in Maine). There’s no “mean girl” like Blair because “it’s not high school anymore,” Cecily says. “You’re finding out what your own problems are.” The problems in the story deal with the characters discovering who they are and who they want to be with. They are more mature than the Gossip Girl characters since they live away from home and make their own decisions.

When asked if she has a favorite character, Cecily responds that there is a little bit of her in all of her characters. “Shipley is very different from me—confident, but more troubled.” The author and Shipley do share a similar college experience, though. They both stole the van on their orientation trip. In the book, Shipley takes it to look for a Dunkin’ Donuts. When Cecily got in the van she just got behind the wheel and didn’t actually go anywhere.

The book is filled with interesting characters with names like Sea Bass (any relation to a certain Chuck Bass?) and Damascus. All of the characters seem like people you would meet on a college campus anywhere. Cecily says she likes to “create characters that could be stereotypes, but turn the stereotypes around.” The characters form unexpected friendships and share experiences that show how much someone can really grow during college. After reading the book, we never want to leave college (or, at the very least, this college town). Old and new fans alike will definitely enjoy this fresh and witty novel.

We recently interviewed Blake Lively, narrator of Gossip Girl!