New Home for the Chalet School

[Vintagejazz]

Welome everyone. Dormy lists on the board as usual and I know you are all hoping like mad that you are all not in the same dormitory as Mary Lou. But only some of you can be the un lucky ones and the rest of us will have to make do with each other.

Oh, and the good news is that Joey has sabotaged discovered something wrong with the roof on her house and believe it or not, the only property available to rent is right next door to the school.

Shit Hurrah, lucky us.

Got to go. Matey wants me for unpacking.

I think Joan is suffering with her glands.

Don't you remember both mollie Bettany and Maynard were skinigallies once and then got enormously fat. I remember Joey and Corney pointing it out.

You need to go to a Klinik in Germany Joan.

Joey is a wag isn't she? She's so dead straight she can't tell a lie at all. Remember she told madam she was a porker too and ruined her family holiday as she went on a reducing course. Jem just howled.

I think Giselle's oldest daughter Natalie went there but as far as I can remember I don't think there are references to her other daughter's, and Simone's and Frieda's daughters went when the school went back to Switzerland. Can't remember any others off the top of my head and as dd and myself are re-reading them (at least I'm re-reading them and it's dd's first time) in order we're not far enough along to meet the new generation at the school.

Just remembered that Jack is Gay's niece.

Jack's best friend Wanda von Eschenau is Bernhilda's DD.

Yes very strange that Juliet really seems to vanish In the later books.

Thora's dds go as it's Signa who falls in Lilly pond and of course is rescued by a doctor and his dog. He marries Hilary Burn.

Surely Marie and Wanda would have sent their dds too.

Jo Scott is the dd of Maisy Gomm although she was at the Saints not Chalet school.

I think it's implied rather than written though as she really concentrated on the Maynard/Russell/Bettany girls.

Oh Melanie Lucas turns out up be the neice of Jeannie Le Cadoulec. Which to be fair if her Aunt had bothered to write and tell the parents which school their dd was going to they would have known that a bit earlier.

It always amuses me that these kids like Melanie and Carola are foisted into hapless female relations and them seem to loose all contact with their parents. Why didn't Carola write to ask her parents to go to school?

Why did Maisie Gomme name her child after Jo anyway?

Is the weird weight/greed obsession some kind post-rationing thing? I can't recall noticing it in the earlier books. I grumbled in the last thread about Excitements and Miss Annersley telling Frau Mieders not to eat too many cakes as she's fat already. In the same book, Miss Wilson tuts at the rest of the staff for expressing any enthusiasm about the prospect of birthday cake.

Gisel Mensch (Gisela's daughter) is mentioned at some point, I think, but very much in passing. Tessa di Bersac is basically Simone Mark 2, with zero personality of her own. Don't forget Elisaveta's children - Jose Helston is her daughter, and she actually gets a little bit of character development (she has an 'air of being Someone', apparently, which stems from her knowledge that she's secretly a princess).

If my sister sent me a bill for getting the ceiling replastered because I had been sleeping in the room above and my weight gain must therefore be responsible for the damage, I think I'd be going nc sharpish. What a bitch Joey is!

Oh! But what I did like in Excitements is Con Maynard insisting on inviting Robin to the reunion, even though there's no way she'll be allowed to come, because it's rude and hurtful not to. Yay Con. Yet more reason to wonder why she continues to be the 'thoughtless' triplet.

What one is that? The "you're so fat you broke my house" one?

I think it's in one of the holiday ones....The one with Ruey??

There are lots of fattist remarks scattered throughout I think. Was EBD a skinny minny I wonder? On the other hand, they are always tucking into cream cakes and Kaffee mit Schlagsahne etc.

I seem to remember something about the stalwart Nancy Wilmot being 10 stone which given that she's, what, 5' 10" or thereabouts, seems rather on the skinny side to me. Are there any positive overweight characters? I can't recall any - though that's in common with most authors!

What I don't get is if Nancy Wilmot was considered chubby, how on earth does anyone ever hide being busy. Surely they'd all look like they had a melon up their jumpers from early on.

Hi could someone point me in the direction of the transcripts please?

I'd love to be 5 foot 10 and 10 stone!

mopsy, at the minute I'd settle for the "10 stone" bit!

(5'4"... 11'summat" :-( )

er, oops, 11st summat lb.

Me too pontefractals, alas!

On 'positive overweight characters': bearing in mind that 'overweight' is possibly a v odd concept with EBD (I also recognise the combination of height/weight for Nancy which to me suggests 'slightly slim' more than anything else) - Nancy clearly sort of is. Con Stewart is described as "big" on at least one occasion (Camp) and sufficiently bigger than Nell that when Nell sleeps in her ulster (stranded coach in New) she has to pin it tighter around herself - Nell being tall herself and muscular more than properly thin. Hilda Jukes is your standard happy placid chubby girl. Sophy Hamel is also supposedly a likeable fat girl, iirc. Struggling to think of any others.

I think I've only seen a headshot of EBD, and it's hard to gauge from it, but my impression isn't that she's particularly thin. I suppose she'd hardly be the first author to make her heroines better looking (in her own terms) than herself, though. I also wonder how tall she was, given her v strong preference for tall heroines.

I always got the impression that Nancy Wilmot was meant to be quite definitely overweight. But 10 stone and 5ft 10 equals pretty damn slim.

By the way Miss Annersley is furious that there were more girls in the summerhouse last night than in the hall playing games. Apparently the gardening staff have now been instructed to ensure it is locked at all times

I'll have a word with Gaudenz, see if he'll leave it unlocked for us? I overheard Joan Baker ask him once and when she said she'd thank him later, be was only too happy to oblige.

Well, that didn't work very well. Gaudenz looked horrified and said his wife still hasn't forgiven him for the last time. She must be ever so conscientious. I guess I'll try asking Miss Everett next.

Oh yes I remember Joan Baker having that conversation with Gaudenz. It was about 5 months ago, wasn't it?

Not that illustrators can necessarily be relied upon to capture exactly what the author imagines, but these are possibly of interest here -

The cover of Reunion - compare 'chubby' (ha ha) Sophie with eg Jo or Rosalie. Also note a surprisingly cuddly Nell, with interestingly coloured hair.

Mollie Maynard, also in Reunion - totally, totally not fat at all, at least by today's standards. I do hope these pictures (and the books generally) didn't contribute to shit body image for perfectly healthy-sized girls reading them. :(

Joey looks very elegant. I would never have pictured her like that.

Sophie looks as though she is at least 20 years older than Joey!!!
I always thought EBD was quite tall, but I don't know if I read that somewhere or imagined it!!