The Chandler Legacies

Chandler is a boarding school in Connecticut which admits all types of students in order to prepare them for a university education. Readers will meet five of these in detail. Beth Kramer is a ‘townie’ who has chosen to live at the school. Sarah Brunson has had challenges at home and now is trying to do every possible activity the school offers. Amanda Spencer comes from a privileged New York City home and is a Legacy student, given that her dad also attended Chandler. Ramin Golafshar is a transfer student from Iran. And Freddy is the athlete of the group.

These five people are invited by an English professor to join The Circle, an elite group whose activities are not undertaken just to improve their writing skills but also to improve their ability to observe, to think, to confront their doubts and insecurities through writing and to develop empathy both within the group and within the wider school environment. At their first meeting, they are asked to write their truth, and this takes them, individually and as a group, along many different paths.

The characters form a diverse group which eventually becomes more cohesive as they get to know one another. They develop friendships despite their racial, sexual and socio-economic differences and become, in a sense, a found family supporting one another through the vagaries of boarding school life. The novel is told from all five points of view, moving from one character to another and then going through the revolution over again. At first, the characters can be hard to distinguish, but the author gradually fills in their backgrounds and their distinctive voices.

The setting of Chandler is important in that it is a boarding school, but it could be in any city, state or western country. Because the school’s very existence depends on continually attracting new students, it becomes evident that the powers that be are intent on protecting Chandler’s status and reputation. This comes at a cost since those on the board of directors, as well as staff members. seem willing to ignore reality and keep silent about the true nature of the sometimes seamy side of life at the school.

Because Nazemian wishes to give each character a chance to develop, the book is very slow to start. It takes almost the first third of the book before readers read a chapter from each character, and the plot seems predictable. It is only in the final chapters that there is real action on the part of The Circle, and so the denouement of the story happens much too quickly to be satisfactory.

The themes of the novel are difficult and might be triggering for some readers. Nazemian touches on abuse, such as the hazing inflicted upon younger or new students. As one character says as an explanation and justification, “All we’re saying is that we didn’t do anything that wasn’t done to us, okay?” (p. 286)

The book also looks at sexual abuse both between students and between staff members and students, as well as homophobia. These are the legacies that Chandler hopes will never be uncovered as the school does everything in its power to sweep them under the proverbial ivory tower carpet.

Abdi Nazemian draws from his own experience at American boarding schools, and thus his story has a ring of truth to it. Fortunately, the author looks past the darkness described within the novel, and the ending is proactive and hopeful as members of The Circle take a stance and begin to change the school’s atmosphere.

All five of them experience coming-of-age in their own ways, and all five prove that there can be hope even in what appear to be desperate situations. This is where the ending falls a little short as readers undoubtedly would like to know the results of the efforts of The Circle to make these much-needed changes. What really will be the Chandler legacy – a continuing legacy of cover-ups and secrets or a new legacy of openness and honesty?

Nazemian doesn’t flinch from dealing with important topics, and his straight-forward approach will be appreciated by young adult readers. Aspiring writers who read the novel might agree with Douglas that writing is an act of optimism, and they could be inspired by the notion that they might just be able to change the world for the better.