Finishing School Books In Order

Publication Order of Finishing School Books

The Finishing School series written by Gail Carriger is a charming, steampunk and supernatural influenced book series set in a parallel version of the Victorian era. The book series is a twist on the classic spy novel, combining the supernatural and an 1800s-esque setting for a uniquely fresh take on the genre for young readers. The book series is elegant and captures the attention of readers with ease, using captivating scenes, settings, and relatable characters to its advantage. The series is also generally geared towards young women, particularly between the ages of 12 and 18. However, the books are so well-written, fast-paced, and intriguing to read, anyone could enjoy reading the saga from start to finish. The writer, Gail Carriger herself actually recommends the series for children nine years old and up. The series is wholesome, entertaining, and easy-to-read, making it suitable for young readers while still appealing to readers of all ages. The book remains enchanting and exciting as the stories are laced with a tantalizing and clever combination of espionage, werewolves, vampires, and drama. When all four of these elements are combined so well, the novels are page-turners that become difficult and sometimes nearly impossible to put down once you pick one up and begin reading. This series is also a written prequel to the spin-off Parasol Protectorate novels series, also written by Gail Carriger and geared to an older audience.

The book series consists of four, medium-length novels and focuses on the main character Sophronia Angelina Temminck. Sophia was born on November 29, 1837, and she is said to be fourteen years of age in the first book at the beginning of the series. With each book, she grows a year older, as each novel installment is meant to represent one year of finishing school. By the end of the series, she is seventeen going on eighteen, completing her final year of finishing school at Mademoiselle Geraldine’s Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality. Sophronia is tall and lean with straight, middling brown hair and green eyes. Her face is relatively plain and lightly freckled, but she has a particularly noteworthy smile that can light up even the darkest of rooms. She claims to look more like her father, and is of caucasian descent and is very attractive to other boys her age that attend separate schools or work on the school grounds.

Sophronia is also very confident in nature with an undeniable thirst for knowledge, and burning curiosity for everything around her, especially the unknown and unexplored. She is confident and loyal, and she’s never above doing anything that may mean getting information. She is well-suited to espionage and maintains high academic standings at the school she attends called Mademoiselle Geraldine’s Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality. She is also the sixth child of the eight children in her large family.

In the first installment of the book series titled Etiquette and Espionage, Sophronia Temminick is shipped off to finishing school after causing too much trouble around the home for her mother to handle, due to her unattractively curious nature for the time. The school is called Mademoiselle Geraldine’s Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality. She is soon, thereafter, taken by the mysterious headmistress to the school. Along the way, the carriage runs into several obstacles including bandits looking for “the prototype” and it’s up to Sophronia to save the day. Once arriving at school with the aid of friendly werewolves, Sophronia begins delving into the unexplored nooks and crannies around the school and makes several new acquaintances and friends in her travels along the way. Throughout the book, mischief and dramatics ensue while Sophronia begins learns to become an assassin, spy, and a lady. By the end of the first book, Sophronia realizes she still has much to learn, and must return to school for the following year.

The second installment in the Finishing school series is titled Curtsies and Conspiracies and takes place in the following school year at Mademoiselle Geraldine’s Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality. In this installment, Sophronia is now fifteen and excelling academically in school. Sophronia is well-accomplished in school, but she faces personal problems with both her friends and her enemies. There are also conspiracies afoot that could mean dire consequences for both werewolves and vampires. In this installment, Sophronia learns about the nature of “the prototype” and what kind of significant impact it could have if it falls into the wrong hands. The story continues to resolve the personal conflicts she faces earlier in the book, but she is faced with greater dilemmas thereafter.

The Finishing School series and its novel installments have yet to become a television series or feature-length movie, but there have been rumors of potential for these kinds of projects to move forward in the future, with the most recent, fourth and final chapter of the series published near the end of 2015 in November. We hope that the series will receive this kind of creative attention in the future, as the series is delightful and gives lots of opportunity for creative interpretation and translation to either the small or big screen.

Even though we can’t look forward to a Finish School movie or television series just yet, there are audiobook versions of all four installments of the Finishing School series for easy, on-the-go reading. And as always, there are Ebook, paperback, and hardcover copies of all four novels in the book series. The book series is both available online for purchase off of Amazon and similar sites and the books are also available in most bookstores, both in store and for the special order upon request.

If you want to know more about books one and two of the Finishing School series or learn about the two novels that follow Etiquette and Espionage and Curtsies and Conspiracies, you’ll have to read the series for yourself. The Finishing School series by Gail Carriger is fast-paced, energetic, mysterious, and elegant. It is recommended for anyone who likes espionage, the supernatural, books set in a Victorian-Era or any combination of the three. We hope you enjoy reading the Finishing School series as much as we did.