Forty-nine-year-old divorced hair stylist Eileen Novak has recently enrolled in a community college class to complete her high school education, and her first English assignment is to keep a journal. Initially apprehensive about this exercise, Eileen soon discovers she enjoys writing and the opportunity to really let herself go.

Set in St. John’s, Newfoundland, in the 1980s and resonating with a vivid sense of place, Finishing School chronicles Eileen’s sometimes traumatic, sometimes funny but fully engaged life during the school months. “Always ready to try anything