Last term at Malory Towers (by Enid Blyton)

(Amazon UK link)

I started rereading Enid Blyton’s ‘Malory Towers’ school series back in May. I’ve continued reading one per month and have just finished the last in the original series, ‘Last term at Malory Towers’. I say the ‘original’ series because I’ve learned that there are some extra book written by a different author which fill in some of the gaps. However I don’t have any of those, and have not read them.

I last read ‘Last term at Malory Towers’ in 2014, but as a teenager I read it every few years, and occasionally as a young adults, so I was reasonably familiar with some of the storylines. Darrell Rivers is now head girl of Malory Towers, and - with most of her friends - in her final term. She, Sally, Alicia and Betty are all off to university in the autumn, and are looking forward to it. But inevitably there’s a lot of nostalgia as they go to their beloved boarding school as pupils for the last time. 

Darrell’s younger sister Felicity is in the second form, and she features somewhat in this book, along with a rather unpleasant girl called Jo who has even more unpleasant parents. Jo’s father tells her he was always bottom of the class, and encourages her to do as little work as possible. He sends her money and extravagant food, and she tries to manipulate her classmates as a result. But the only person who seems to like her is a timid first-former called Deirdre.

To everyone’s surprise there are two new girls in the sixth form - Suzanne, who is the niece of Mam’zelle Rougier, and Amanda, whose school burned down so it had to close. Suzanne is likeable and friendly, though she keeps pretending she doesn’t understand English very well. She’s a bit caricatured and reminded me of Claudine in the St Clare’s books, and I’m not really sure why she was introduced at this late stage; she doesn’t play much of a part in the story.

Amanda, on the other hand, is excellent at sports; her former school excelled in all team sports as well as swimming, and Amanda is tall and very strong. Unfortunately she’s also very arrogant. She turns her nose up at Malory Towers; she’s expected to enter the next Olympics, and likely to win at least a couple of prizes. But she has little team spirit: she’s unwilling to help or coach any of the younger girls, until she decides to prove the other sixth formers wrong, by taking on Felicity’s classmate (and Alicia’s cousin) June.

Then there’s Gwen, who never really got any less selfish, who’s had a huge argument with her father, and some ‘tricks’ played by the second-formers (since the sixth-formers are far too mature…)

So there are some interesting storylines in quite a fast-moving book, which perhaps reflects Darrell’s feelings that her last term is racing by. It’s couched in Blyton-ese, of course which irritates some; there are author intrusions, and a bit of repetition. But I grew up with these books, and still feel that they’re good stories with mostly believable main characters, even if the misfits are somewhat caricatured. 

I picked up a lot of my ethics from reading school stories like these as a young teenager. I intuitively understood schoolgirl honour: the importance of owning up when one did something wrong, for instance, and the value of things like generosity and hard work. I understood about team spirit, and loyalty, and integrity without knowing the words. Fiction can be excellent at helping children (and adults) see into other people’s minds, and feel their emotions. 

Of course, this being children’s fiction, bad behaviour usually has negative consequences, even if not directly imposed. When someone is in serious danger, rescues always comes. Perhaps this is unrealistic, but I think even at eleven, when I first read the book, I understood the difference between fictional idealism and the real ideals and morals that underpinned these stories. 

Overall, I thought this an excellent conclusion to the series, and am glad I reread it. I’m also pleased to know that young children still read (or listen to) these books - probably mostly girls, as it’s set in a girls’ school. Suitable for anyone from the age of about eight and upwards.  

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