To ask the Abbess to find me a solid lump of comfort and a cream cake

[CarrotVan]

Shenanigans at the Chalet School featuring sales of work, sub text and full fat menu

Just wanted to say a belated thank you for Jo to the rescue, about to start it and v excited!

Just reading Coming of Age. They made the horrendous discovery that one of the old girls is working as a waitress!! Don’t worry though, Joey and pals have forced her to quit that job and she now has the honour of being Joeys mothers help.

How is being a mother’s help so much better than a waitress?!

In terms of the work, probably not.

But she'll be living in a nice house instead of a bedsit scrimping on the heating and cooking FOR HERSELF on a single ring and having to run down the hall to the loo hoping a man doesn't see her (because not all of the girls on her floor are nice girls).

Well, that’s true. I was just thinking of the nightmare of being at Joey’s beck and call.

There might have been less actual cash, but more home comforts (mothers' help probably didn't have to wash dishes, probably got decent food) and it all probably felt more secure. No unsavoury proles to contend with, for example.

Someone on the CBB asked a while back if we'd rather be a Marlow or a Maynard. Marlow, every time. I'm not into horses or hunting, but at least I wouldn't have my mum micro-managing my life and living next door to my school, I wouldn't have to confess my sins to her at bedtime, and I wouldn't be expected to look after my little siblings.

Now I would much rather be a waitress living in a bed sit than deal with the Maynard family every day.
However I am looking at it from my comfortable position of having the NHS, state pension, family to fall back on. I suspect I would think differently without those things

I don't remember much about Carla other than she was one of the Tyrolean crowd and was musical - I think she sang? It was either her or Vanna di Ricci.

I have started wondering how anyone with lactose intolerance would have coped. They seem to have tons of milk and cream all the time. Choice of drinks seems to milky coffee or straight milk. I would be constantly sick 😝

They didn’t have lactose intolerance in the early/mid 20th century. Just repeated, severe ‘bilious attacks’ ...

Haha, it runs in my family but my grandparents generation just said they ‘can’t stomach it’. We are definitely not posh enough for the Chalet School 😂

I've nearly Two Sams. Nearly finished, two more books to go.
I want the Margot Venables Prize for Perseverance please!

What's everyone's favourite of the series, then?

Let us know how you get on with Prefects! I have so many reservations about it.

Btw I've done a new Funtrivia quiz about Swiss cuisine featured in the books. Link: www.funtrivia.com/trivia-quiz/Hobbies/A-Chalet-School-Fans-Guide-to-Swiss-Cuisine-399332.html

Favourites?

Reiterating from previous threads - the unexpurgated Exile, Goes To It and Highland Twins are outstanding.

I do like Island and Joey Goes to the Oberland. And Genius is pretty much pitch perfect.

I agree about 'Exile' and 'Highland Twins'. I also think 'New Mistress' is great, I've been struck reading them again how interesting and unusual it is to get the staff perspective on the stories. My personal favourite will always be 'The Chalet School and the Lintons' though - it was the first one I ever read and I still have my armada paperback! It has been very interesting to read it in full, and with the other half. I love Gillian, and the midnight feast is hilarious if slightly puzzling to me aged 8 who had only read Enid Blyton school stories and had no idea how a midnight feast could make you sick or be considered a bad thing!

Exile is my favourite. Three Go is a close second.

Lintons is up for release next year by GGBP and I can't wait.

Is there really a Chalet School Dropbox? If so, could I please, please have a link?

Lintons coming out in GGBP? Oh, excellent! I would love to read the uncut version of that one.
I would struggle to pick a single favourite. I do love Exile, and Carola (which was the first one I read, as an 8-year-old).I also rather like And Jo, having been to Oberammergau.

And I'm also fond of Jo Returns, because I like the stuff about her struggling with her first book and then getting it accepted.

I am reading Reunion and I am astounded at how many near death experiences have been crammed into just a couple of weeks, even for a CS book.

8/10 on Phil’s quiz

Lintons is my favourite, too, @Bloatstoat. Possibly just for the moment where spoilt Joyce doesn’t worship the Robin on sight and Joey gets arsy.

Phil, do you have Insider Knowledge? Lintons is not showing on the GGBP site

@PotteryWheel Yes! She just says "Hello Kid" or something instead of being amazed at how beautiful she is, it's great.

Also the baby name party, when they all come up with amazing names only to find the baby is...Sybil, for absolutely no reason. So many great bits.