The Elites

the making of the elites.

━━━━━━━━━━━━

B E H I N D   T H E   S T O R Y

━━━━━━━━━━━━

THE ELITES IS A NOVELLA, largely inspired by Gossip Girl, Clique Bait, and Thirteen Reason Why, revolving around a transfer student who has moved to New York, to get revenge on the upper-class socialites of Manhattan, for the downfall of her best friend in the previous year. Based in the Upper East, a location famously known for its wealthy residents and lavish shops, The Elites focuses on the lifestyle of the most important, richest, people at Harrington Preparatory and how their inconsiderate behaviours can affect those around them negatively.

 Throughout the novel, there are nine characters, who are mentioned mainly through the viewpoint of the protagonist, Candace. These nine characters, seven of whom belong to the 'Elites', all act as secondary characters, either helping or foiling Candace's plans. As one of my inspiration was Thirteen Reasons Why, I had included elements of sexual harassment, psychological abuse, drug abuse and solely, bullying, alongside other topics – societal issues that aren't spoken enough about, and yet, occurs frequently within communities across the globe. Thus, I wanted to bring awareness about these subjects and had mentioned them within the novel as I believe that they hold great importance. 

The main storyline was through the eyes of Candace Lowell, a student that has transferred from abroad to Harrington Preparatory, a private school situated in Manhattan. During the novel, Candace ventured through a journey to ruin a large group of friends, nicknamed 'Elites', and discovered their secrets that would ruin their future – vindictive for the way they had treated her best friend, Scarlett Lockwood. The genres I had chosen were romance, drama and thriller as the novel entailed romantic relationships, the tension between friends and the suspense of the unknown. 

Regarding location, the novel takes place in New York City, a northern state in the U.S.A. The state was the best location for where the novel would take place as it's well known for its wealthy background. It accumulates up to $3 million of private wealth, being one of the richest cities in the world. In fact, most famously known, Manhattan, one of the five boroughs of NYC, is the wealthiest area in New York. I was also inspired by where Gossip Girl, by Cecily von Ziegesar, was located – the Upper East Side. It's largely known to be the home to the City's elite residents, well-known prep schools and designer boutiques.

 It had acted as the perfect location for where The Elites would take place as it would not only exaggerate the wealth of the characters but also their power – a subject that is consistently brought up within the novel. The Upper East Side is identical with old money and classic New York sophistication, the mirror image of what the characters would portray.

The 'Elites' consisted of seven members: Celeste Leon, Bentley Harrington, Madeline Vos, Akari and Kaito Takahashi, Elijah Astor, and lastly, Zane Stryker. These seven characters played a vital role in Scarlett's downfall, the reason why Candace wanted revenge, and throughout the novel pieces of the past are revealed until one of the very few last chapters, where the entire story was disclosed.

Each member of the Elites is closely linked to the Seven Deadly Sins, cardinal sins that are a concept taught in Christianity; behaviours classified under the category if they give birth to other immoralities. The idea behind this was inspired by Inspector Calls, a morality play with themes circulating the Seven Deadly Sins. By linking these immoralities to the Elites, it had personified these sins and given the characters a strong explanation behind their personality.