The Chalet School

[ShellacB]

There seem to be plenty of old Chalet School Threads, but I can't find a current one.

In the middle of a re read. I have just finished the Tyrolean and Herefordshire ones. I loved them!

I do remember the Swiss books not being quite of the same quality, so not sure whether to read them all.

Could anyone recommend the best Swiss books if I was to skim through?

That's a really good point! I had forgotten that Joey didn't convert to Catholicism until around that time. It is hard to work out exactly when she would have done it, though.

I know that there is a reference to Madge not being able to be Godmother because the triplets are to be raised as Catholic (although iirc it isn't specified that Joey has actually converted herself at that time) and later when Madge's daughter is christened there is some reference to the fact that Madge is Church of England and Joey is a Catholic.

I understand that converting from COE to Catholicism was quite a big deal in those times and I recall a biographer of EBD stating that when referring to her own conversion in the 30s, so you are quite right she might not have wanted to describe the intricacies of the marriage and conversion and felt it easier to gloss over it.

.....sometimes it would have been in the presbytery), in plain clothes.
I assume that this is part of the reason EBD chose not to depict Joey and Jack's wedding, not just the war setting.

We hear later that Jo did have a wedding veil. Was it Simone or Phoebe (or both) that she lent it to?

It was 1938, so not yet war time. But it would have been difficult to present it as a happy joyful occasion, given all the circumstances.

We see Madge's, Bernhilda's, Simone's and Daisy's weddings, don't we? I think Simone's is the nicest.

For all her series-long commitment to characters of both faiths happily co-existing, attending one another's services etc,.....

We see Protestants attending Catholic services. I'm not sure we ever see Catholics attending Protestant services, unless for a specific occasion such as a wedding.

Absolutely not! When you go again take a large swag bag 😅

Yes, I think she does lend it to Simone, but she can't have had one, not if we're being realistic about an actual mixed marriage in the late 1930s, because it would have been a distinctly hole-in-corner bare basics exchange of rings and vows. I doubt that even the friendliest priest, who might also, I suppose have been superintending Joey's conversation, would have done otherwise. (Do we know in what country they actually got married?)

I remember mention of them "all" having to get married in normal clothes before Simone's wedding...? I'd assumed this included Joey so the veil reference always confused me.

There’s a fill in which covers the Maynard’s /Russells arriving in Geurnsey. Also covers Jo and Jacks wedding, and the death of Jem’s sister (Daisy and Primula’s mum). It’s called “A Refuge for the Chalet School”, it’s really good and fills in lots of the gaps about that time.

Do we know in what country they actually got married?

I don't think it's ever stated, but assume Guernsey. Madge wouldn't have been able to travel easily.

Just checked; in the cut chapter of Exile, Jack says when they reach Guernsey, they'll probably have to wait a week or two before they can get married. So if it did happen as quickly as that, it'd definitely be no frills.

Is it Bernhilda or Gisela's wedding we see in the early books? I remember it being lovely.

I just love the Tyrol celebrations! Christmas with the Mensches is a highlight.

Yes we also see Madge’s wedding illustrated beautifully in the early Tyrol books too!

It is possible that Joey actually converted before she left Tyrol. I am not sure when her religion is mentioned in the earlier part of Exile. There is quite a lengthy period of time they get through in not much ‘book time’ in the earlier part of that book.

I suspect it was deliberately left quite vague as EBD didn’t necessarily want to get into the ins and outs of a religious conversion. It would be likely to have been considered a bit much for a children’s book written in that period of time. Skimming over the details of the wedding might also be one of the reasons that the first few months in Guernsey are skipped in Exile before the story picks up again over a year later.

It is possible that Joey actually converted before she left Tyrol. I am not sure when her religion is mentioned in the earlier part of Exile.

She hadn't converted before they went to Guernsey. Here's the relevant passage from the cut chapter (from Faded Page):

‘Joey!’
‘Jack! At last! What an age you’ve been. I thought the Gestapo must have got you this time. Where have you been?’
‘To see about our wedding, my child. And I’ve come to the conclusion that we’d better wait till we get to England for it. There’s so much red tape over being married out here, especially as we are of different religions, that I felt we’d far better leave it till we get to our own country. Besides, if we do that, you’ll be able to have some of your own people with you.’
Joey sat up in the hammock in which she had been lounging, and, as a natural result, rolled out on to the grass.
‘Hammocks may be very comfy, but they are the limit,’ she declared, as she rubbed an elbow ruefully. ‘Jack, what did you mean?’
‘Just that I’ve heard from the Sonnalpe today. Madge left last Thursday, bound for Guernsey, and Margot and the babies. The Government is taking over the San, and Jem is following her as soon as possible.’

Then there's a whole lot about how all the others who fled from Austria with them have gone to their various homes, and how Jack and Jo and the Robin and Miss Wilson will travel to Guernsey. Then it continues with Jack saying

You ought to be with Margot and Madge and the babies—let’s see; this is Tuesday—well, Friday or Saturday at latest. Then, I suppose, we’ll have to wait a week or two before we can be married.

Then there's more chat about whether they can do the journey more quickly, then we move to Miss Wilson and preparations for the journey and departure.

I suppose her actual conversion and acceptance into the Catholic church must have happened in the ten month gap that follows.

Ah that makes sense! I had forgotten about that passage.

From what I recall it isn’t actually mentioned later in Exile that she has become a Catholic. Rather that the triplets are to be raised Catholic and then some time in a later book we just find out that Joey is now a Catholic.

I could have missed that though!

I don’t see when, though. There’s no indication she considered converting until marriage to a Catholic is on the cards, and, as so often the CS world schoolgirlish Joey has absolutely no idea Jack has been in love with her for years until the disappearance of Robin and Hilary on the Chalet School League document-hiding picnic, and she’s only been engaged about a month before the anti-Semitic riot in Spartz.

Actually I’m pretty sure Jack refers to the being different religions and it adding to the difficulty of getting married in Switzerland in the current chapter, and a reason why they postpone it till Guernsey.…?

ETA x-post!