Joey and co in Tirol (by Elinor M Brent-Dyer)

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When I first read Elinor M Brent-Dyer’s Chalet School books in my childhood and teens, I wasn’t all that keen on the books set out of school, in holiday periods. As I grew older, I appreciated some of them more - in particular, ‘Jo to the rescue’, which has long been one of my favourites. But I wasn’t so sure about the later ones.

Having said that, I did enjoy ‘Joey goes to the Oberland’, which I reread about eighteen months ago, so I was quite looking forward to ‘Joey and co in Tirol’, which I last read in 2016. I hadn’t remembered much about it other than that it introduces the character Ruey Richardson and her brothers.

The story involves the Maynard family going to stay in their new holiday home very near the location of the original Chalet School. Joey has been getting tired, and had a recent nasty shock when her mischievous son Mike nearly had a bad accident. So Mike, along with three of his siblings, goes to stay elsewhere. Joey and Jack travel with their triplet daughters, who are almost fifteen, their sons Steve and Chas, and their new babies Phil and Geoff. 

Within the first few days, they come across Ruey, who is staying in a small chalet with her brothers. Roger is sixteen, but Roddy is rather younger. They don’t have a mother, and their father is an eccentric professor who frequently travels and leaves them alone. Roddy has quite a nasty accident, so Jack (being a doctor) gets involved, and the triplets befriend Ruey. 

There are several different threads in this story.  There’s an ongoing concern about what Professor Richardson is doing - he is passionate about space travel (this book was written in 1960, in the very early days), and treats his offspring with benign neglect. There are growing friendships between the three Richardson children and the Maynards; Ruey is quite sensitive, and responds wholeheartedly to Joey’s motherly care. 

There’s also a lengthy hike when mist suddenly arises, leading to quite a bit of tension. And there’s a chapter which begins light-heartedly when the older children go to sort out some things in the Richardsons’ chalet, only to hear rumours about violent bank robbers in the district… there’s some humour, but at the expense of some innocent people. 

Then there are outings, some of them evidently intended to be educational for the readers as well as the families. They reminded me somewhat of various half-term outings described in detail in some of the termtime books, and are my least favourite sections.

What I particularly appreciated about this book was a deeper insight into Joey and Jack’s parenting methods.  In one sense they seem quite harsh by today’s standards; they believe in occasional corporal punishment, at least for younger boys, when they do something very dangerous or rebellious. But they also believe strongly that any punishment should fit the crime. When one of the children mixes mustard into custard, he is made to eat a good tablespoonful of it before it’s thrown out. It helps him see the reason why what he did was wrong and wasteful. 

However, once a punishment is meted out, it’s followed by total forgiveness, and no further references to the misdemeanor. There are a lot of cuddles, plenty of family chats and games, and the parents are always willing to listen. If a child is seriously repentant, or upset at what he (or she) has done, then any punishment or logical consequence comes to an end. Jack is quite hot tempered, particularly if Joey has been hurt or upset in any way. But she is endlessly loving, and seems to me an extremely good mother overall, even if the sheer number of children (eleven) in just fifteen years seems rather excessive.

Towards the end there’s one of the unlikely coincidences that the author was rather keen on; I had entirely forgotten about it, and found it a tad complicated following the logic that causes a new family link to emerge. And it’s not quite as unlikely as some that happen in other books; I found this one quite moving.   

Overall I liked rereading ‘Joey and co in Tirol’, and would recommend it to anyone who follows this series, unless you only like the school-based books. Or if you're not a fan of Joey. I like her style and personality very much, but some readers find her irritating and pushy. 

This book could even stand alone as a family-based holiday story, although there are quite a few references to people and incidents from earlier books. Intended originally for teenagers, I think this one appeals rather more to people like me who have been reading the books since our own teenage years, and keep returning to them.

Unfortunately this book is out of print, and second-hand prices online tend to be excessively high. But it's occasionally available in charity shops or second-hand bookstores. The Armada edition was not significantly abridged when it was published, so I haven't tried to acquire a full hardback or GGBP version. 

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