A Genius at the Chalet School (by Elinor M Brent-Dyer)

(Amazon UK link)

When I last read Elinor M Brent-Dyer's book ‘A Genius at the Chalet School’ in 2015, I only had the paperback edition, which contains just the first half of the original. So immediately afterwards I re-read the second half, published in Armada as a sequel, ‘Chalet School Fete’. Since then, I had the good fortune to acquire several of the series in hardback, courtesy of a relative whose late aunt had collected some of the books. 

Apparently the book wasn’t abridged at all when it was issued in paperback - presumably that’s why it was in two volumes in Armada. But it was intended to be one book, and I think reads better as a single story. I had vaguely recalled the plot when I picked up my hardback edition to read a day or two ago, but forgotten the details.

Nina Rutherford is the ‘genius’ of the title, and her great gift is in music. She is fifteen, and  has been motherless for many years, and travelled extensively with her father. She is passionate about her piano playing, and usually practises for at least four hours every day. But then her father dies in a tragic accident. His cousin Guy is now Nina’s guardian, and he takes her back to the UK, much to her distress. He wants her to go to school, and she is very resistant.

On the way back, in a train, they meet four girls from the Chalet School, who are friendly and chat to Nina about the fact that two other musical prodigies have been through their school, which is now based both in the UK and in Switzerland. So cousin Guy decides to send Nina there, rather than to the local private school which his three daughters attend. None of them quite know what to make of Nina’s genius and passion for music, and there are some difficult scenes; she’s grieving her father, stressed about moving, and very concerned that she won’t be able to play the piano as much as she needs to. 

The Chalet School is good at giving extra time to people with exceptional talent, and they also recognise that, at fifteen, Nina probably doesn’t need algebra, geometry or art. She’s already completely fluent in both French and German, so it’s not too difficult to find extra times for her to practise. And everyone who hears her acknowledges that she really does have something special - a gift that is way beyond her years. 

Nina is a likeable girl, with a kind and generous heart, so long as she’s not prevented from doing her daily four hours. There are several comments made about being a ‘genius’, and how it’s very much a mixed blessing. She puts her music ahead of everything, and can be quite tunnel-visioned; this leads to some unpleasantness when an accident happens that temporarily stops her from playing.

But although this is a thread running through the book, as Nina (inevitably) makes friends and adjusts to school life, there isn’t much else that’s going on. There’s the St Mildred’s pantomime (in lengthy detail), and a belated half-term visit, also described in detail. And there’s the end-of-term annual fair (or fete) which raises money for the San. Most of the books have one, possibly two of these events that pause the action for a chapter or so - I don’t recall any others with three. As usual, I skimmed these sections.

Still, there are other minor interests for people like me who reread the series regularly, and who like to keep up with the many characters. For instance: Joey Maynard has her ninth baby; Nina displays an aptitude for skiing; an old friend of some of the staff bumps into them on a ferry, and her husband turns out to be related to Nina; Beth Chester is evidently in love (though we don’t find out who the young man is); Guy’s oldest daughter Alix becomes very ill and has to be treated at the sanatorium in Switzerland. 

There are some school scenes, too - prefects’ meetings, staff room conversations, and discussions in dormitories. I don’t recall any actual lessons, other than one where one of the staff was very grumpy with toothache, but we don’t learn what happened about it. There’s a token ‘middles’ misbehaviour scene involving the head girl and three of the most annoying girls, but even that blows over fairly quickly.

It’s good to read this again as part of the ongoing series, and I do like Nina as a character. But I wouldn’t recommend it as an introduction to the series.  The hardback is very hard to find, and the Girls Gone By full edition, linked to above, is not currently in print. However the two Armada books can fairly often be found used, reasonably priced. 

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