Society of Lies: A Novel

At Princeton, eating clubs are social clubs structured around dining halls and other facilities for undergraduate upperclassmen (third- or fourth-year students) studying at the university. There are 11 eating clubs at Princeton, six of which interview undergraduates and seven of which allocate places on a lottery basis. The book draws on this factual background, although Lauren Ling Brown creates fictional clubs, including the Sterling Club. This centers in her novel as the most exclusive club and the eponymous “society of lies.” The club takes on the nature of a secret society, drawing on speculation and conspiracy theories that have surrounded the Princeton eating clubs over their 150-year history.

Belonging to a particular club at Princeton confers a particular status to an undergraduate and partly determines their social set, and there is some social pressure on students to join. The clubs are not officially affiliated with the university and have received criticism for elitism. In Society of Lies, Maya details the different clubs on The Street (the street where the clubs’ mansions reside) and why students feel compelled to join one: “There were a few who chose to be ‘independent,’ but you had to be confident in yourself and your campus meal plan to make that choice” (63).