Joey goes to the Oberland (by Elinor M Brent-Dyer)

(Amazon UK link)

I have just finished reading yet another of the Chalet School series by Elinor M Brent-Dyer, one I hadn't read for a long time. I couldn't remember what it was like at all, and wasn't even quite sure why I picked it up. I had been feeling that several of these books were very samey, best not read one after another.

'Joey goes to the Oberland', however, turns out to be an excellent book in the series. That's mainly because it features one of the author's best characters, in my view - Joey Maynard (who started live as Joey Bettany). Joey has a lot of depth and personality, and always feels very real.

Joey and her family travel to their new home in the Swiss Oberland, as the Chalet School starts to move back there after the second world war. They meet some old friends along the way, and make some new ones when they arrive.

It was a very enjoyable book, in my view. There's not much about the 'school', but lots of time in the company of the delightful and irrepressible Joey.

Best to read as part of the series; each book stands alone, but characters re-appear, and it's more interesting reading about old friends when one has met them before in other books.

You can also read my longer review of 'Joey Goes to the Oberland', written after re-reading 12 years later, when I had a few more criticisms of the story!