Malory Towers: what an unpleasant bunch

[Hepzibar]

No idea what sparked this, I have started to read Malory Towers 40 years after the first time. I absolutely loved MT and read and re-read them. I loved Enid Blyton but MT closely followed by St Clare's were my favourites.

I so wanted to be Darrell Rivers with her 'posh' name (not a common sixties job like mine), how I envied her and longed to go to boarding school.

Reading it now what a thoroughly unpleasant, bullying, nasty bunch they were, including my idolised Darrell.

Didn't Alicia get chicken pox and repented being a bully as she thought it was a punishment ?

And am I the only one who thought she was called A Lick Eee Ah ?

I remember being shocked at that awful drama teacher humiliating Zerelda, you'd never get away with that now.

Noeuf definitely not the only one. I thought it was some foreign name, so visualised her as a 'foreigner' 😳

Feeling a bit sorry for the young me

Ah, I've just started reading MT books to my 9YO DD. I'd never read them before, so have sort of skipped a few posts here to avoid spoilers!
But yes, after reading secret seven, where the characters are all so thinly drawn, the girls at MT are horrors. They're all so openly critical and awful to others. I'm quite enjoying it!

Even as a child, while I adored the books, I knew I would have no chance if I actually attended the school due to hating sport (apart from swimming). I would have bunking off PE with Claudine or Gwendoline Mary. There was a really febrile atmosphere in a lot of the books which I found weirdly fascinating, particularly the one where there’s a younger girl who is being bullied by her older crush, a sleepwalking girl who is studying too hard, another girl pretending to sleep walk, and it all builds up to some weird emotional climax where someone gets locked in a cupboard or something.

It's such a different era.

Also am I the only one who ships Bill and Clarissa?

Hepzibar, maybe this thread sparked it for you? It brought back a lot of memories for me.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3506601-To-ask-which-book-characters-irrationally-annoy-you?pg=1&messages=100

I seem to remember that Enid Blyton let some characters get away with a lot and others were harshly punished. For example, talented Irene was allowed to be “temperamental” and throw something at Gwen. When Gwen tried similar tactics, she was humiliated (by Matron, I think).

If I recall correctly, Mavis and the talented swimmer were punished by losing their talents to illness/injury, but Alicia and Darrell weren’t, even though they could be pretty awful. And poor Gwen was obviously never going to be allowed a happy ending, and had to say goodbye to her dreams.

Mavis did regain her voice though. She played the Prince in the panto. But the illness definitely “brought her down a peg” to use MT phrasing.
Has anyone seen/read the sequels that focus on Felicity? At one point Darrell’s year come back for a reunion. Sally is a teacher, Alicia’s in the police force, Mavis is a world-renowned opera singer (of course). Also Bill and Clarissa set up a riding school and it’s used as part of a plot in one of the stories. Gwen becomes a teacher too, she comes back to Malory Towers to teach elocution/deportment. And Mary Lou becomes a nurse I think.

I was a book publicist in my youth and I met Enid Blyton’s children several times (they were adults, I hasten to add!). Gillian, the eldest, was very hearty and the role model for George, I’m sure of it. Gillian told me that the MT and St Clare’s books were based on her own school days. Gillian would arrive home from school for the holidays and the first thing she had to do was to sit in Enid’s study and tell her everything that had happened during that term.

Imogen, sadly, ended up rather neglected and neurotic. She wrote a book about her childhood experiences which was dramatised with Helena Bonham Carter as Enid Bluton and Matthew Macfadyen as her first husband (father of Gillian and Imogen). Darrell Waters was Enid Blyton’s second husband which is why the MT Darrell is called Darrell.

Oh and Darrell is a junior newspaper reporter or something, and when she arrives back for the reunion she announces that she’s written a book, based on her school experiences.

Remember June? Alicia’s evil cousin a few years down the school, she got expelled for writing poison pen letters and Alicia was deeply ashamed of what she had done I think it made Alicia a kinder person as a result. If I remember correctly in the last book didn’t a lot of them recognise their faults and become better people? Alicia became kinder, Daryl controlled her temper, Mary Lou began to stand up for herself, I really want to re read Malory Towers now! Didn’t poor Gwendoline end up in poverty?

Gwen's dad had a stroke and couldn't work so she wasn't able to go to finishing school and had to get a job

Alicia in the police force? I pity the poor person brought in to be questioned by her!

June didn’t get expelled, she was saved at the last moment by Moira. Alicia spoke seriously to June IIRC. But yes Alicia did eventually become less nasty.

And Ms Potts who wore men's pyjamas?

Ah I fancy a re read too now.
I still have the Trebizon books and re read those most years (takes 45 mins per book). They still seem fine, the characters pretty normal. Not as ace as kingscote by Antonia forest. I adore those, 4 school books and 6 out of school ones.

I used to love both Malory Towers, and St Clare's. The bullying and vile behaviour portrayed just didn't occur to me. Even in my lack of self awareness though, I never liked Betty, Alicia's best friend from another Tower.

Mallory Towers & St Clare's never matched up to The Chalet School, the series were to brief, I never felt any empathy for any of the characters in Enid Blyton's books.

I too was obsessed with these books but even as a child read them with a kind of fascinated horror. I'd have hated boarding school so much, I'd have been the one who ran away!

The best school stories by far imo are Anthony Buckridge's Jennings series, they are fantastic!

Wasn't it Miss Peters who wore men's pyjamas? She was definitely having a mad pash with a games mistress somewhere!

I always said Alicia's name wrong too until my older sister pointed it out. I always prefered Bobby over at St Clare's. She was the class clown but not horrible. At least that's how I remember it.

They bullied some of the teachers too, like Mr Young the music master, they put chalk on his seat or something. And Mam'zelle.

One storyline that always stuck with me was when Mary-Lou was desperate to please this other girl who was stealing, was it Daphne? And Mary-Lou went to go and post a parcel for her or something except it was the middle of the night and she got blown off the cliff, and I think Good Old Darrell rescued her. Not sure if that's right but it's there in the recesses of my mind because the story scared me so much!

I hated that pool. It always seemed creepy being carved out of the rocks and having freezing cold water. Ugh.

I have pretty much forgotten all the storylines, that may be a good thing.

I do remember The Naughtiest Girl in the School books, and sobbing my heart out when she was dismissed as a monitor and ran and cried into the horse.

@Nat6999. I agree, The Chalet School was much better than St Clare's or MT. I so wanted to go there! Also they are great to re read - admittedly a 'little' dated in attitude 😉