The Nine: A Novel

Hannah Webber fears she will never be a mother, but her prayers are finally answered when she gives birth to a son. In an era of high-stakes parenting, nurturing Sam's intellect becomes Hannah's life purpose. She invests body and soul into his development, much to the detriment of her marriage. She convinces herself, however, that Sam's acceptance at age fourteen to the most prestigious of New England boarding schools overseen by an illustrious headmaster, justifies her choices.

When he arrives at Dunning, Sam is glad to be out from under his mother's close watch. And he enjoys his newfound freedom-until, late one night, he stumbles upon evidence of sexual misconduct at the school and is unable to shake the discovery.

Both a coming-of-age novel and a portrait of an evolving mother-son relationship, The Nine is the story of a young man who chooses to expose a corrupt world operating under its own set of rules-even if it means jeopardizing his mother's hopes and dreams.

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The Nine: A Novel

Hannah Webber fears she will never be a mother, but her prayers are finally answered when she gives birth to a son. In an era of high-stakes parenting, nurturing Sam's intellect becomes Hannah's life purpose. She invests body and soul into his development, much to the detriment of her marriage. She convinces herself, however, that Sam's acceptance at age fourteen to the most prestigious of New England boarding schools overseen by an illustrious headmaster, justifies her choices.

When he arrives at Dunning, Sam is glad to be out from under his mother's close watch. And he enjoys his newfound freedom-until, late one night, he stumbles upon evidence of sexual misconduct at the school and is unable to shake the discovery.

Both a coming-of-age novel and a portrait of an evolving mother-son relationship, The Nine is the story of a young man who chooses to expose a corrupt world operating under its own set of rules-even if it means jeopardizing his mother's hopes and dreams.

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The Nine: A Novel

The Nine: A Novel

by Jeanne McWilliams Blasberg

Narrated by Ari Fliakos, Marnye Young

Unabridged — 9 hours, 28 minutes

The Nine: A Novel

The Nine: A Novel

by Jeanne McWilliams Blasberg

Narrated by Ari Fliakos, Marnye Young

Unabridged — 9 hours, 28 minutes

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Overview

Hannah Webber fears she will never be a mother, but her prayers are finally answered when she gives birth to a son. In an era of high-stakes parenting, nurturing Sam's intellect becomes Hannah's life purpose. She invests body and soul into his development, much to the detriment of her marriage. She convinces herself, however, that Sam's acceptance at age fourteen to the most prestigious of New England boarding schools overseen by an illustrious headmaster, justifies her choices.

When he arrives at Dunning, Sam is glad to be out from under his mother's close watch. And he enjoys his newfound freedom-until, late one night, he stumbles upon evidence of sexual misconduct at the school and is unable to shake the discovery.

Both a coming-of-age novel and a portrait of an evolving mother-son relationship, The Nine is the story of a young man who chooses to expose a corrupt world operating under its own set of rules-even if it means jeopardizing his mother's hopes and dreams.


Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

2020 14th Annual Indie Excellence Juror’s Choice Award
2020 14th Annual National Indie Excellence Award-Winner in Contemporary Novel
2020 14th Annual National Indie Excellence Award Finalist in Regional Fiction: Northeast
2020 Readers’ Favorite Book Awards Finalist in Fiction – General
2020 International Book Awards Finalist in Fiction: Literary
2020 Best Book Awards Finalist in Fiction: Literary
2019/2020 Reader Views Literary Awards 2nd Place Winner in General Fiction/Novel
2019 Foreword INDIES Gold Winner for Thriller & Suspense (Adult Fiction)
2019 Beverly Hills Book Awards Winner in Literary Fiction
2019 Beverly Hills Book Awards Winner in Regional Fiction: Northeast
2019 Beverly Hills Book Awards Finalist in General Fiction
2019 Foreword INDIES Finalist in Adult Fiction: Thriller & Suspense


"The Nine uncovers the underbelly of an elite private school, revealing decades-long corruption, while also exposing how the fervent dreams of mothers for their children can shatter families. Jeanne Blasberg delves with unflinching precision into the chasms between parents and children, a novel revelatory for the author’s willingness to scrutinize both mother and son and their stifling bond."
—Randy Susan Meyers, bestselling author of The Widow of Wall Street and Waisted

"The Nine is one of those suspenseful, highly addictive novels that keep you saying, “just one more chapter” until suddenly you’ve stayed up all night to finish it. Hannah and Sam—the tenacious, devoted mother and her humble, endearing son—make an irresistible team as they take on the dark narcissism and systemic exploitation of an elite world that attempts to break them. I love this book’s iconoclastic impulse and its ultimate faith in the values of work over privilege, and love over loyalty."
—Christopher Castellani, author of Leading Men

"Jeanne McWilliams Blasberg’s compelling new novel, The Nine, is a complex and beautifully wrought tale of the sacrifices parents and children make to join the ranks of the elite, and the shocking secrets they find once they get there. It will surely be catnip for book groups—Dead Poets Society crossed with a conspiracy thriller, with a helicopter mom’s midlife crisis thrown in for good measure—and it’ll keep the reader turning pages as fast as she can."
—Holly LeCraw, author of The Swimming Pool and The Half Brother

“...A poignant mother-son drama....In fluid prose, Blasberg combines two tales through two alternating voices.”
Kirkus Reviews

The Nine . . . delivers a tightly plotted tale that taps the vein of secret terror every first-time parent harbors when sending a child on their own into the world. With devastating precision, Blasberg mines the insecurity, the denial, the projected hope, and ambition of a mother singularly devoted to her only child—played against revelations of dark doings at an elite prep school. . . . A painful, beautiful book.”
—Barbara Stark-Nemon, author of Even in Darkness and Hard Cider

“Blasberg moves seamlessly between . . . points of view. . . . A good choice for fans of thoughtful coming-of-age dramas.”
Booklist

“School scandals and the fragile bond between a boy and his mother give The Nine a wide-ranging appeal that extends beyond its ivy-clad setting.”
Clarion Reviews

Kirkus Reviews

2019-05-06
A sinister secret lies behind the pristine facade of an elite New Hampshire boarding school in this novel.

Welcome to Dunning Academy, where today's best young minds and upper-crust legacies are molded into tomorrow's movers and shakers—if the academic and social pressures don't break them first. When 14-year-old Sam Webber received his acceptance, his mother, Hannah, was overjoyed. Sam was the miracle baby she and her husband, Edward, thought they would never have, and from the moment of his birth, he became the center of his mother's life. Dunning was her idea—Sam would receive a superior education and make the important connections that would lead to a successful life. But now, he is on his own, insecure and struggling ("He realized something during those first weeks it would take his mother a long time to understand: the only way he was going to master Dunning Academy would be through a side door"). That door is provided by Justin Crandall, a legacy golden boy, who befriends Sam and offers him a chance to join The Nine, Dunning's secret society (think Yale's Skull and Bones for the high school set). Gradually, as he is pulled more deeply into The Nine's web, Sam comes to realize that the society's ostensibly harmless pranks are being manipulated by others with malevolent agendas. Woven throughout the disturbing, plot-driven narrative is a poignant mother-son drama, with Hannah's obsessive commitment to Sam's Ivy League track causing a fracturing in their relationship. In fluid prose, Blasberg (Eden, 2017) combines two tales through two alternating voices. The third-person narrator provides the major storyline, in which decades-old misdeeds are resurrected through current schemes and blackmail, while Hannah delivers the subplot through first-person, emotional recollections. While Sam is an appealing lead character, readers will likely find Hannah's intransigence frustrating. But ultimately, she faces the fact that her own ambitions for Sam left him vulnerable to the machinations of more experienced players: "I used to take it for granted that our desires were intertwined. I assumed he'd absorbed them in utero, just as he shared my blood and my oxygen."

A helicopter mom turns out to be no match for a well-funded conspiracy; engaging, with a likable young protagonist.

Product Details

BN ID: 2940160407135
Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Publication date: 08/20/2019
Edition description: Unabridged
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