Has anyone ever read Malory towers?

[Orangejelly1]

I used to love the books as a child! I read them cover to cover so many times and my favourite character was Darrell. I recently found my old collection and re read parts of them just for old times sake and I was actually really disappointed to see, as an adult, how awful some of the popular characters were. I know it was a product of its time and a different era, but Darrell, Alicia and some of the most popular girls would be called nasty bullies nowadays. I also felt so sorry for Gwen, which surprised me because as a child rearing the books she was my least favourite character.

just wondered if anyone else re read the books and thought this too!

Yes, The Land of Far Beyond! I loved that book. I think that was my first EB book, before any of the school series.

This thread has made me google and I've found a lot of these books available for free in pdf and other formats so I'm going to have a good re-read session soon

There appeared to be about 10 girls in NT so presumably the others were the same. There was no mention of streaming as the ‘duffers’ like Gwen were in the same form as the brilliant ones like Alicia. So were the parents paying all that money so their girls could be in a class of forty?

That does seem to be an inconsistency, as when Darrell joins the school she notes there are about 30 girls in her form - but there are 10 in North Tower, so either the other Towers are smaller or EB's maths is wrong!

And, yes, all the head girls of the forms seem to come from North Tower, and the only two head girls of the school also do. A few girls from other towers are mentioned briefly but AFAIR the only ones who merit more than a line are Betty, Alicia's friend, and Janet who makes the costumes for the panto.

Did anyone read the extra 6 Malory Towers books that Pamela Cox wrote

Reading then now 😂 they’re ok. They hammer the EB style of writing a bit using the word ‘for’ as a connecting word eg ‘no I couldn’t have seen her, for I was in the gym’ (I think on one page it’s used about four times) but other than that they’re quite true to the originals

They are a bit samey though - Felicity and Susan are Darrell and Sally again, June gets a best friend who is basically Betty only not in a other tower, Julie gets a friend called Lucy and they’re horse mad in the vein of Bill and Clarissa.

There’s a couple of interesting new ones though, Bonnie, who idolises Felicity at first but turns out to have a lot of character. And her friend Amy who is presumably the new Gwen as she’s pretty and snobbish, but does have sone redeeming features such as loyalty when Bonnie is sent to Coventry for something as she refuses to comply.

*Yes - just dug out my 'Second Form' and Isabel says of Mirabel:

'She's bad at lessons - no good at games - hopeless at art - poor at gym.*

Wasn’t that because she wasn’t trying as she wanted to be expelled? So presumably she could have been ok at sports had she tried. I think Gladys was good at sports in the second form and got a go in the team.

But yes, they both forget they were ever great at music/drama when they become the sports captains! 😂

I think that was the Third Form! The girls all line up along the windows with their hankies ready and start imitating Gwen and her mum. Then Irene snorts and the family look up and Gwen's dad roars with laughter at the assembled girls.

I think it's then that Bill turns up, but I could be wrong.

Yes, that could be an explanation, good thought. I suppose EB wanted to explore the idea of the power-crazed sports captain and Mirabel was the most likely candidate.

The new books are North Tower biased too as Susan, Felicity and Pam seem to take it in turns to be head of form. I think one book has a previously unpopular former pupil as head girl, who is also NT. She then redeems herself and is moved up a year if I recall correctly.

I’m sure one book has some teachers discussing who is to be HG and they rule out some, concluding ‘so that only leaves Felicity and Susan’ seemingly forgetting the 30 or so ET, ST and WT students 😂

(or that could have been in the first series with Darell and Sally being the candidates)

Oh and in the new series there’s also an American who says ‘wunnerful’ and ‘twenny’ which of course is a Bad Thing and is kept down a year as American education is apparently inferior. Not sure when that’s happened before…

or that could have been in the first series with Darell and Sally being the candidates

In 'Second Form* when Sally is made head of form, Miss Parker tells the girls who was in the running - Darrell, Jean (also NT and is HG of 3rd form and for two terms in Upper 4th before she moves up a form and Darrel becomes head) and 'Winnie Toms' - Winnie isn't NT. She may be the Winnie who Betty takes along to the feast in book 4, in which case she is East Tower.

It totally pissed me off when Zeralda was criticised for reciting Shakespeare in an American accent. Shakespeare wrote his plays before the English language migrated to America, so her pronunciation would be no further from originally intended than the UK girls' pronunciation

I actually thought Zerelda was a great character and thought it was a shame EB wrote her out, especially as they’d palled her up with Mavis.

I really related to the bit where she was sent down a form and acted like she was unconcerned

I also loved the bit where Miss Hibbert realised she was a bit hard on her and has a private chat after the doomed play rehearsal - and how Zerelda totally takes on board what is said to her

I loved Bill. Turning up on horseback with all seven brothers was absolutely my dream way to arrive at school!

I can only assume that her parents sent the driver with her trunk and tuckbox and all her horse things separately.

There’s some very interesting fanfic featuring Bill and Clarissa if anyone’s in the market for that. Similarly Miss Peters and Miss Linnie/Mam’zelle Rougier.

There’s also a very colourful one featuring Sally Hope who’s married to Julian Kirrin having a threesome with Felicity.

Apparently.

@kierenthecommunity as long as it didn't involve Timmy the dog...

Bill and Clarissa are basically canon aren't they? They set up home together after school!

Pam Cox has done some wonderful add on to the original books

Someone above referred to EB's books as "iconoclastic." I would say they are rather the opposite, repeating and reinforcing the worst beliefs and values and prejudices of their time without challenging them at all. EB can tell a good story sometimes, but all her characters are one-dimensional.

I'm so glad to see other fans of Antonia Forest on this thread. She was a truly brilliant writer, leagues above EB and her ilk. AF's characters are so subtly drawn and I love the way she subverts the usual school story tropes. When I first read her books I was a bit thrown by the odd timescale (in the earlier books the characters can remember the war while in the later books they watch Top of the Pops and discuss Vatican II) but before long it didn't bother me. I still reread my favourites regularly. I used to reread End of Term in the run up to Christmas every year. Maybe I'll do that again this year.

I used to love the "Five find outers" (mystery) series, but the way their "lower class" friend Ern, is treated is stark (eats in kitchen with cook at Fatty's place for example, whereas the other would each with his parents etc)

@HumphreyCobblers No, it is revealed towards the end by Miss Theobold that Alma has the condition making her overweight and unhealthy and the girls so then feel ashamed about their behaviour.

When I first read her books I was a bit thrown by the odd timescale

I didn't read them in order - before the internet they were very hard to get hold of - I read Autumn Term first and then The Cricket Term - and I was totally baffled by TOTP references in the latter, coupled with Karen having acquired a husband and two step children; when in Autumn Term they'd been travelling on steam trains and Karen was heading for Oxford. I kept trying to make sense of the timeline and failing, obviously. It was only when I'd got hold of more of them that I realised there were two completely independent timelines.

I echo everything you say about the quality of the books - they really are in a different league from other school stories (not that they can truly be pigeonholed under 'school' as there are more holiday books than school books). The only failing (in my opinion) is that I didn't think the two historicals were anywhere near as good - they're OK but not special - and it annoys me that she spent time writing them that she could have spent writing two more contemporary Marlow books.

Yes. Read every single one as a kid and loved them 💕

So glad someone mentioned this!!

As I child I didn't question it. Reading it as an experienced Theatre nurse is something else!!

They went into business together running a riding school.

Yes but it is clear that they are living together as part of that

Ern Goon - wasn't he the local policeman's nephew? And another example of awful degradation of Frederick Algernon Trotteville, giving him those initials and calling him Fatty!!! I wasn't as keen on those due to the unlikelihood of an 11 year old boy being such a master of disguise that he could transform himself into a gypsy woman or an old tramp in the blink of an eye. Although at least Bets had a starring role, unlike poor old Anne whose destiny was always to make the cave look homely.