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.

The only thing that's really stuck with me is that Darrell went to see the headmistress with the new girls in her last year and was all wistful listening to the headmistress's address and remembering her own first day (vom).

At least I think it was Darrell.

I loved all these books as a kid and gobbled them all up, but I can only remember the vaguest storylines and characters now. Chalet School memories are much stronger (possibly because there were so many of them, that woman was prolific!)but I also really loved the Dimsie books too, and re-read them often. Was also a massive fan, possibly an even bigger fan, of boys' boarding school stories. They'd have titles like For the Glory of the Cricket Team and nonsense like that.

Justkeeprollingalong take a look at the new fill in books, they are brilliant, exactly the same as the original books, lovely quality books by Girl Gone by Publishers

Wasn’t it Amanda the MT Olympic hopeful who got her legs shattered as she found the natural pool to restrictive and went swimming in the treacherous sea instead, not sure if she ever recovered but I remember reading it at the time and really wincing when she was shattered against the rocks.

Yes that was Amanda. I think she recovered enough to be able to get round on crutches. I think she then decided that she wanted to be a games mistress.

Ah thanks Toffee so her Olympic dreams where shattered as well as her legs then, poor Amanda.

I've been re-reading them to my DC recently. I didn't like Darrell and Alicia even as a child but they are truly unpleasant characters who quite frankly bully Gwendoline. I think Sally and Mary-Lou were nicer.

EB didn't quite seem to think the school through either. All the main characters lived in North Tower and there were about 10 North Tower girls in the form (I know, I counted them). Assuming that they had a similar number from each tower in the form, there would have been 40 girls, quite a lot for a posh boarding school. Of course you never heard about any of the other girls except Betty from West Tower and one girl from a different tower who was allowed a part in the fifth form pantomime (written by Darrell of course). She also seemed to forget about characters. Daphne wasn't mentioned at all in the later books.

I may have invested too much time thinking about this.

I will @Nat6999. Thanks!

I loved the article shared on Gwendoline.

I am a total Gwen. I 100% would have faked a heart condition to get out of PE.

I loved EB books as a kid and reread MT many times in my childhood. Always loved Naughtiest Girl too, Whyteleaffe School had such a communist undertone. They all had to pool their pocket money and treats so it was shared evenly between the kids. If anyone needed money they would have to bid for it, and it better be for a good reason!

I adored these books as a kid but agree that they are awful bullies! St Clare's kids were much nicer on the whole though I do like Bill and Clarissa (who end up buying a riding school together. I reckon they'd make a great couple)

I always felt sorry for Gwen. Yes she was spoiled but she had no chance at all at MT with those girls. Even Miss Grayling calls her the only 'failure of the form' and to Darrell!
Alison was St Clare's equivalent to Gwen from memory.

I didn't get the ridicule for Alison. She tended to hero worship and could be a bit daft but she was essentially a friendly, polite and kind-hearted girl.

Oh yes Bill and Clarissa are defintatly a couple. Especially if you read the newer follow on books.
I was always baffled by the year groups at St Clare's. The twins joined in First Form but were age 14. How blimmin old were they by the time they made it to the Sixth Form.

I don't remember if it was MT or st Clares but I felt so bad for the fat girl who was bullied and then turned out to have a gealth condition. Apparantly it was still her fault because she was miserable about it, if she just had laughed about it and lost weight thry would have been nicer...

If I remember correctly Gwen had nothing going for her at all. She was described as bad at her studies, not good at sport, not nice personality and she was described as being physically unattractive too :(

EB just didn't seem to want to give her a break at all.

Alicia in the police force is a chilling thought. She'd be a corrupt officer by about the second week.

I am chortling away to myself now thinking of Alicia barking "Get yer trousers on, son, you're nicked!"

I think Gwendoline was pretty, wasn't she, with her silky golden hair that she hated putting up into a ponytail? She committed the cardinal Blyton sin of vanity though, by brushing it for 100 strokes every evening and delaying the dormitory's Lights Out.

Agree butterymuffin, a very scary thought indeed.

EB seemed to have a real issue with 'fat girl's. They were bullied, laughed at, blamed and shamed and by both kids and teachers. Just awful. explodingkitten that was Alma 'pudding. They were all just awful to here.

her

And fat boys. Remember Fatty from the Five Findouters books?

Frederick Algernon Trotter.

I'm going to have to read them again as my memory is pretty hazy.

Wasn't EB quite sporty herself?

I imagine her to be like Princess Ann for some reason. Sporty, no nonsense, jolly hockey sticks type.

I remember Gwen getting fat shamed for eating 5 tomatoes, I mean how many calories are there in tomatoes?

I also felt a bit sorry for poor Jo Jones whose dad now looks like Donald Trump in my head

'Is it really necessary to gorge on a second tomato, dear?'

When I did the 5:2 I used to love those big tomatoes for dinner