Elin Hilderbrand and her daughter Shelby Cunningham stopped by CBS Mornings to discuss their new novel, The Academy.
Hilderbrand and Cunningham’s novel, the first in a planned series, was published Tuesday by Little, Brown. It follows one year in the life of students and staff at a scandal-plagued New England boarding school. A critic for Kirkus wrote of the book, “A boarding-school fantasia, with Hilderbrand’s signature upgrades to the cuisine and decor. Sign us up for next term.”
CBS Mornings co-host Gayle King asked the authors about the origin of the novel.
“Shelby attended St. George’s School in Newport, Rhode Island, and she went as a sophomore the year after Covid,” Hilderbrand said. “When she got there, she was calling four or five times a day, having a wonderful time, but the stories were so mind-blowing that eventually, in the middle of her sophomore year, I said, ‘We have to write a novel.’”
Hilderbrand said that she and her daughter would both write scenes in the book and then edit each other’s work. King asked Cunningham about that process.
“She’s not a teenager,” Cunningham said. “And since she is my mom, I could be as honest as I needed to be. There were so many times where I was like, We can’t say this.…She had people wearing Converse and listening to Rolling Stones, and I’m like, They’re wearing Golden Gooses and listening to house music.”
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
