Frost in May

Frost in May, first published in 1933 with an introduction by Elizabeth Bowen (and publicly praised by Evelyn Waugh), was based on White's years at a convent school in pre-World-War-I England.

[3] The novel opens as its 9-year-old protagonist, Fernanda 'Nanda' Grey, is on her way to the Roman Catholic Convent of the Five Wounds outside London, where she will live and get her schooling until she is forced out at the age of 13.

In Frost in May, White explores the attractions of a romanticized Catholicism for a young girl while condemning the school's absolutist and punitive culture.

[1] Through specific episodes of Nanda's life, White explores the "petty cruelty, and ... the institutionalised power of symbols and community pressure.

"[2] Much of the tension in this coming-of-age story stems from Fernanda's increasing discontent as she grows away from the values, beliefs, and practices of the convent school world.