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The Chalet School

939 replies

ShellacB · 17/09/2025 10:28

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?

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ByLimeAnt · Today 12:39

BallybunionTao · Today 12:22

Yes, it's particularly odd in that she's absolutely babied by everyone at the school from the moment she arrives! There's that moment when they pull back the blanket (Miss Maynard must have the strength of an ox, as she appears to have carried a sleeping six year old in her arms the entire way from Spartz to the ferry landing!) and it's all 'such a lovely baby face', and bathing her in a baby bath in the dormitory, as though she's a toddler at most.

I mean, Amy Stevens was only eight when she started at the CS in its first week or two of existence, and no one seems to have been babying her to anywhere near the same extent.

EBD is fascinated by children who have lived exclusively with adults, but she has some deeply inconsistent strategies for explaining their behaviour in relation to those adults. You have the Robin, who behaves as though she is much younger than her age until she's into her teens. (How old is she when they flee Austria in Exile? -- because people are still carrying her on their shoulders like a doll!)

You have Polly Heriot, who is dying to be a madcap schoolgirl after an upbringing by elderly guardians.

You have Verity, who is prim and proper and disapproves of modern children, after being brought up by two elderly people and a governess who was in her 70s.

You have Eustacia (whose parents are older as well as a scholar and a medic), who is also prim and proper, but in a scholarly way.

And maybe rather more oddly, you have Mary-Lou, essentially brought up by her grandmother, as her mother is a wet lettuce, who apparently was a 'quiet little puss' before meeting Clem and Tony, after which she turns into a tomboy but still 'doesn't like girls'.

Ah, yes. Eustacia who had a personality transplant after injuring her back.

Think EBD had read "What Katy Did" too many times.

Oh yes, and pretty much forced by Joey to change her name ffs

BallybunionTao · Today 12:41

EmpressaurusKitty · Today 12:31

I mean, Amy Stevens was only eight when she started at the CS in its first week or two of existence, and no one seems to have been babying her to anywhere near the same extent.

Juliet bathed Amy though, didn’t she?

She does, but when someone (Grizel?) is surprised at Juliet helping Amy out offering to help with dressing after the bath, Joey says something dismissive about someone having to help her because 'You know what a perfect baby she is', which suggests she thinks Amy should be able to manage on her own.

I mean it's 'baby' used in a mildly pejorative sense, not the Engelkind!

BallybunionTao · Today 12:42

ByLimeAnt · Today 12:39

Ah, yes. Eustacia who had a personality transplant after injuring her back.

Think EBD had read "What Katy Did" too many times.

Oh yes, and pretty much forced by Joey to change her name ffs

I'm just imagining Cousin Helen arriving at the Chalet School, all saintly, and going on about the School of Pain. Grin

EmpressaurusKitty · Today 12:58

There was never any suggestion that Jo’s frequent illnesses made her more saintly, was there?

ByLimeAnt · Today 13:55

BallybunionTao · Today 12:42

I'm just imagining Cousin Helen arriving at the Chalet School, all saintly, and going on about the School of Pain. Grin

She'd slot right in. Probably arrive clutching her vase.

Tickingcrocodile · Today 14:11

I have enjoyed reading this thread. I had all the books up to Exile as a child and also read Three Go but hadn't read any of the other books. I've just re-read all the Tyrol and wartime ones up to Jo to the Rescue. The originals are quite different to the Armada versions I read. So many of the characters smoke! I really enjoyed Jo to the Rescue because it was so nice to catch up with the original schoolgirl characters, although I can imagine it was a bit for some younger readers (a lot of time seems to be dedicated to Stephen's teeth).
The continuity errors are much more apparent as an adult reader.

Can I ask, is Tom Tackles the Chalet school actually chronologically next after Jo to the Rescue, rather than Three Go to the Chalet School?

Catsknowbest · Today 14:13

Tickingcrocodile · Today 14:11

I have enjoyed reading this thread. I had all the books up to Exile as a child and also read Three Go but hadn't read any of the other books. I've just re-read all the Tyrol and wartime ones up to Jo to the Rescue. The originals are quite different to the Armada versions I read. So many of the characters smoke! I really enjoyed Jo to the Rescue because it was so nice to catch up with the original schoolgirl characters, although I can imagine it was a bit for some younger readers (a lot of time seems to be dedicated to Stephen's teeth).
The continuity errors are much more apparent as an adult reader.

Can I ask, is Tom Tackles the Chalet school actually chronologically next after Jo to the Rescue, rather than Three Go to the Chalet School?

No, Tom was originally I believe only published in the CS magazine/periodical so it actually fits in much further back, I forget exactly where though believe just near end or post WW2 timeline but someone here will definitely know exactly where

MissyB1 · Today 14:37

Three Go is one of my favourite Chalet books. I would love for a few more of the books to have stayed in “Armishire” which is my favourite era of the whole series.

HonoriaBulstrode · Today 14:52

I mean, even given that childhood illnesses were more common and more potentially serious when she was writing, EBD does fetishise illness.

Her own brother died when he was 17 and she was 18. Having so many characters (including Janie) recover from near-death illnesses probably reflects some deep wishful thinking on her part. And her sickbed descriptions possibly based on RL experience.

Though as her brother was 17 in 1912, had he lived he would no doubt have ended up on the Western Front.

I think she produced some of her highest quality writing in terms of plot etc, in that period between 1938 and 1948 when she was also running a school!

I agree that EBD was at her peak in that period. She probably couldn't have published more than she did - paper was rationed, so publishers were very restricted in what they could do.

She does, but when someone (Grizel?) is surprised at Juliet helping Amy out offering to help with dressing after the bath, Joey says something dismissive about someone having to help her because 'You know what a perfect baby she is', which suggests she thinks Amy should be able to manage on her own.

I think Jo is dismissive because she knows Juliet's circumstances and why she is helping Amy, and doesn't want Grizel to keep going on about it. (A rare example of Joey showing tact and discretion!)

BallybunionTao · Today 15:01

Catsknowbest · Today 14:13

No, Tom was originally I believe only published in the CS magazine/periodical so it actually fits in much further back, I forget exactly where though believe just near end or post WW2 timeline but someone here will definitely know exactly where

Beth Chester is Head Girl, is all I remember, and Daisy Venables is games prefect, writing to Robin in her first year at Oxford about the 'problem new girl'?

BallybunionTao · Today 15:03

HonoriaBulstrode · Today 14:52

I mean, even given that childhood illnesses were more common and more potentially serious when she was writing, EBD does fetishise illness.

Her own brother died when he was 17 and she was 18. Having so many characters (including Janie) recover from near-death illnesses probably reflects some deep wishful thinking on her part. And her sickbed descriptions possibly based on RL experience.

Though as her brother was 17 in 1912, had he lived he would no doubt have ended up on the Western Front.

I think she produced some of her highest quality writing in terms of plot etc, in that period between 1938 and 1948 when she was also running a school!

I agree that EBD was at her peak in that period. She probably couldn't have published more than she did - paper was rationed, so publishers were very restricted in what they could do.

She does, but when someone (Grizel?) is surprised at Juliet helping Amy out offering to help with dressing after the bath, Joey says something dismissive about someone having to help her because 'You know what a perfect baby she is', which suggests she thinks Amy should be able to manage on her own.

I think Jo is dismissive because she knows Juliet's circumstances and why she is helping Amy, and doesn't want Grizel to keep going on about it. (A rare example of Joey showing tact and discretion!)

Well, yes, she's trying to shut Grizel down, but my point is that she'd never have said that the Robin was 'a perfect baby' in that 'It's a bit of a nuisance when we're in a hurry to serenade Madge' way.

Catsknowbest · Today 15:07

Re Tom Tackles, found this online:

The Chalet School
HonoriaBulstrode · Today 15:10

No, Tom was originally I believe only published in the CS magazine/periodical so it actually fits in much further back, I forget exactly where though believe just near end or post WW2 timeline but someone here will definitely know exactly where

It comes after Gay in the school timeline. Miss A. Is still off following the bus accident. So it should have followed Rescue in publication order. The series timeline is out of sync with the war timeline, but it should be set in 1944 or 45, I think. (I think it's a spring term book).

I wonder if EBD had written it but couldn't get it published due to the wartime paper rationing. (Good article about the rationing here: https://davidjury.com/writings/publishing-in-the-uk-during-the-second-world-war/)

David Jury is an author, editor, and designer of books concerning typography, printing and graphic design.

Publishing in the UK during the Second World War

It used to be said that publishing always flourished during a war; time can weigh heavily on people who have either been uprooted from, or confined to,…

https://davidjury.com/writings/publishing-in-the-uk-during-the-second-world-war

Tickingcrocodile · Today 15:21

Thanks all. It mentions in Rescue that Robin is just off to Oxford so that seems to fit with the timeline.

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