To wonder which fictional boarding school you'd like to have attended?

[Clothrabbit]

For me, Malory Towers. I still love those books and always enjoy reading about the outdoor pool, Gwendoline's misdemeanours, and Mamzelle's eccentricities.

You are not wrong, @Oldgranny! We had an outdoor pool at my secondary school too - and it was baltic!

Poor flat footed Val Longstreet and Nick’s realisation that she just can’t bowl her out.
My passions for DorothyLSayers and Mary Renault are directly inspired by AF too.

I discovered Mary Renault via AF too. Sadly, I found Dorothy L Sayers a disappointment for some reason.

I think Miss Cromwell, too.

I can't imagine her being faced down by Umbridge or hiding in a ditch from the local Nazis.
Despite her ferocious manner, she always struck me as the most understanding of the staff. I liked the discrete way she dealt with Nicola's AWOL - making it clear she didn't believe a word of her excuses, yet taking the trouble to find out what was behind it later on.
However, Nicola was one of her favourites!

NastyCats I have read 'The Youngest Lady in Waiting' but it was quite a few years ago. (A friend managed to get hold of a copy of both books from a library, so sadly I didn't get to keep them.) I'm sure he got hold of a third book as well, but I can't really remember - maybe it was set in Russia but not about Masha.

There was another book set in Russia, that I really enjoyed - Little Katia by E M Almedingen. She ended up at the Smolni Institute as well.

I haven't read this whole thread, so apologies if this has already been mentioned!

Does anyone else remember Zerelda Brass, who attended Malory Towers for a short while?

She was a 'very grown-up looking' glamorous American girl, whose Father wanted her to learn how to be a proper English schoolgirl.

Poor Ma'amzelle always mistook Zerelda for a member of staff

I think it was Miss Williams (4th form mistress) who mistook Zerelda for a staff member. On realising she was a pupil, she sent her away to take off her make-up and get rid of her hair 'roll' - then didn't recognise her when she came back!

I didn't find that scene very convincing because, despite her hair and make up, Zerelda would have been wearing the Malory Towers uniform which would surely make it clear she was a pupil.

They were awful to Zerelda. She couldn’t help being American and different to them but they were horrible about her accent.

I seem to remember that Sadie, the American girl at St Claire’s who was Alison’s best friend for a term, was teased a little but nothing like as much.

Enid Blyron was such a crashing snob. I wasn’t allowed to read her as a child for that, and other reasons. Including the fact that the characters are so utterly vile to each other.

The Malory Towers and St Clares books made me uncomfortable. I always felt like if I was there I would have got bullied for being lower middle class. Not sure why I felt that, was there a storyline in one of them where a rather common girl arrives and steals some money? The name Eileen is ringing a sort of bell here.

“I seem to remember that Sadie, the American girl at St Claire’s who was Alison’s best friend for a term, was teased a little but nothing like as much.”

But they used her to be vile to Alison- they chanted “Sadie says, Sadie says- what does Sadie say?” at her.

Mind you, the Kingscote girls were pretty unpleasant to each other on occasion- remember “the common little girl with the perm” who was anti Semitic? And they were horrible to Marie.

Countess Yes - Eileen was the daughter of a new, temporary Matron at St Clare's. She was sneered at by the snobby Angela for being a 'charity pupil'. She stole from her mother to help her brother who'd lost his job and was too afraid of the mother to admit it. Another girl in the same year, Pauline, had been suspected of the thefts when it came out that although she'd pretended to be rich, she was actually very poor.

The Chalet School whilst in Austria, I cannot believe so many have mentioned this. I have the whole series and whenever I mention them to friends , no one has ever heard of the series! They don’t know what they missed.
Although in real life you would probably want to kill most of the main characters.

Hogwarts.
My username speaks for itself.

I loved. The Youngest Lady in Waiting and Masha. Had them from the library as a child and would love to re read them but they seem to be out of print. Can't believe they've had two other mentions.

Also love to go to George and Anne's boarding school in the famous Five - Timmy would be a treat.

Countess Yes - Eileen was the daughter of a new, temporary Matron at St Clare's. She was sneered at by the snobby Angela for being a 'charity pupil'.

Yes, Angela looked down on Claudine too for the same reason as she was Mamzelle’s niece.

Angela also found it contemptible that Eileen called her brother Eddie, when his name was Edgar. Terribly lower-class, that!

Nicola was one of her favourites!

She did also try to intervene on Megs Hopkins' behalf with her father, even though she must have been very impatient with Megs' timidity at times.

I think Crommie was remarkably restrained in her comments on the trap for heffalumps. We had that dinned into us from the time we started secondary school, it was one of the purposes of year end exams. Very surprised such a large part of the class, even Miranda, managed to fall into it that far up the school.

(Yes, I know it's a plot device, to set up the next part of the plot )

Hogwarts for me too!

Or St Claire’s. It’s all the hot chocolate they’re always drinking. How they weren’t all obese I just don’t know.

ScreamingVal - Yes, you are quite right, it was Miss Williams.

And Angela’s stunningly beautiful mother was also utterly ghastly when she visited at half term.

I remember finding that so funny, Val

"Good Heavens!" said Miss Williams, weakly, "Not...not one of the girls!"

over a bit of lipstick, powder and nail varnish on a nearly 16 year old girl