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I’m slowly re-reading the lengthy ‘Chalet School’ series by Elinor M Brent-Dyer, at a rate of around ten per year. I’ve just finished the 32nd book in the original series, ‘The Chalet School does it again’. I last read it in 2014. It’s not one I reread extensively when I was younger, and I had forgotten most of the story.
The book takes place in the second term for the Swiss Oberland branch of the Chalet School, and follows directly on from ‘The Chalet School and Barbara’, which I re-read in the middle of September. This is the Easter term so it begins when the ground is frozen, and the Maynard triplets become boarders despite living next-door.
The main new girl in this book is Prunella Davison, someone I had not remembered at all. She’s considered to be a very bizarre person, because she speaks in an extremely formal style. She sounds like someone from a 19th century novel, and expresses herself rather condescendingly in ways that annoy the other girls very much. She is average in most subjects, excelling in art; but her French is poor and her German non-existent, so she has to have extra coaching.
Naturally there’s a chapter about skiing, when the weather is suitable, and the author’s oft-repeated information is imparted to people who are starting to ski, including Prunella. I learned from Brent-Dyer about snow blindness when I was a teenager, meaning that one should always wear dark sunglasses (ideally goggles) when out in the snow on a sunny day. I also learned about the importance of wrapping up warmly, and of keeping one’s skis straight. I don’t know why the same conversations happen in every Chalet School book that has a skiing scene but it’s not a huge problem.
The upcoming sale in aid of the sanatorium is (as in many of the books) an important theme, too. The prefects come up with an idea that has been done before, but not for many years. What’s significant is that they have sufficient costumes. I was a bit surprised that the Welsen branch (the finishing school not far away) grabs all the fairytale costumes for their pantomime, and then ends up doing something that wouldn’t need them at all… indeed, I would have thought there would have been a clash, as far as costumes were concerned. But those of us who love the Chalet School books are used to what are affectionately known as EBD-isms.
There’s high drama on a trip to Lucerne, where we’re treated to some descriptions of real places and statues - I even googled for some of the things mentioned. Perhaps I could have done a ‘street view’ tour along with the girls, but I decided against it, this time anyway. All is going well, until - inevitably - someone does something spontaneous and foolish and ends up in what could be a very dangerous situation. And - also inevitably, for this series - someone else rushes to the rescue, and is branded a hero although she brushes it off, insisting that she did what anyone would do.
There’s quite a moving section when Joey Maynard speaks to the girl who did the rescue, helping her to sort out some of her stresses and confusions about life. I know these incidents irritate some readers; and perhaps the conversation is unrealistic. But I thought it was helpful. This kind of thing helped to shape my own ideas when I was a teenager; I loved the way that Joey related to her own family as well as to the girls in the school.
There are one or two unfinished threads: during the pantomime, for instance, Miss Wilson spots someone who asks a question, and thinks she looks familiar. But we never learn who she is, or why she asked a specific question about some of the girls who were dancing. It’s also not entirely clear how Prunella manages to turn her life around completely, despite a significant incident; but, as one would expect, by the end of the term she’s a ‘real Chalet School girl’ who is making friends and getting along just fine.
Sometimes the scene-by-scene descriptions of the pantomimes or plays are tedious; they usually take up an entire chapter of the books. But I thought this one was quite interesting, even though I skimmed somewhat and didn’t really read the lyrics of the songs.
All in all, I thought this a good addition to the series. Nothing special, but then it must have been increasingly hard for the author to come up with new storylines, so there’s inevitably some repetition. And while all the books technically stand alone, they work a lot better being read more-or-less in order. This helps to see the progression of the school, and also the personality development of the significant characters. It also introduces people a few at a time, rather than all at once.
Recommended to adults or teens if you like this series, but probably not as an introduction to it.
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