Antonia White’s <i>Frost in May</i> : boarding school trauma and autobiographical fiction

Purpose Antonia White’s Frost in May (1933) is based on her experience of boarding at an English Catholic convent conducted by The Society of the Sacred Heart in 1908, placing it in the category of autobiographical fiction. The aim of this article is to explore the experience of boarding school trauma and its emotional architecture for the child protagonist in an English Catholic private fee-paying girls’ school in that period and to augment historical research on the specific educational practices of The Society. Design/methodology/approach Relying on adult accounts of childhood experiences is problematic, and emotional responses have a cultural and historical component to them. A method of dealing with this is to triangulate the novel with recent research into boarding school trauma, as well as research into the educational practices of The Society. Findings The findings evidence consistency between the novel and recent research into boarding school trauma as well as the way in which religious discourses were co-opted to manage emotional responses in a girls’ Catholic convent. Originality/value This is the first analysis of Frost in May from an educational history perspective and application of boarding school trauma to it.