Beverly Hills born and bred, fifteen-year-old Fleur de Leigh makes a thoroughly unglamorous transition to Rancho Cambridge West -- the cheapest boarding school in all the United States and possibly the most peculiar. While frail students convalesce in the arid clime and dine on the mess hall's "adobe melt," Fleur is confronted with a series of grave situations far from her upper-class upbringing.

As her eyes are opened to the evils of prejudice and the burdens of combating it, "the novel rests on the shoulders of Fleur, and she carries it off" (San Francisco Chronicle). Though serious issues abound, in Diane Leslie's world even the most painful moments are tinged with comedy, and the "witty, rapid-fire repartee of the characters' dialogue . . . is reminiscient of Hollywood films of the 1940s" (St. Louis Post-Dispatch).

Clever and fresh, Fleur de Leigh in Exile pits Heartland against Hollywood in a tale whose courageous heroine is as endearing as ever.

"Fleur is a delightful character. . . . Fleur de Leigh in Exile is a . . . fast moving, amusing, enjoyable read."

- The Denver Post

"This is one flower that is destined to become a perennial."

- Los Angeles Times

"Fleur's story is like {a} cactus blossom: rare, lovely and slightly outrageous."

- San Jose Mercury News

"Leslie has a gift for creating memorable, fallible characters who immediately come alive upon hitting print."

- USA Today

"...très charmant indeed."

- Entertainment Weekly

"Fleur is a compelling character."

- St. Louis Dispatch

"Fleur de Leigh captures the reader's heart with her humor, resilience, and moral honesty."

- Library Journal

"Leslie offers . . . a likeable, often funny heroine."

- Publishers Weekly

". . . enchanting, believable, and wickedly funny."

- Denver Post