The Princess of the Chalet School (by Elinor M Brent-Dyer)

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It’s more than twenty years since I last read ‘The Princess of the Chalet School’, third in Elinor M Brent-Dyer’s lengthy series about a boarding school in Austria, which started in the 1920s. The last time I read the series through, I skipped this one as I was away from home when I acquired the next one in the series, and wanted to read it at once.

So although I remembered the outline - that the Princess Elisaveta, from an imaginary central European mini-state called Belsornia joins the Chalet School - I had pretty much forgotten the actual story. It’s set in the summer term, right after the fill-in ‘Deira joins the Chalet School’ which I read for the first time a couple of months ago.

The story starts with a rather unwell and miserable Elisaveta; she is over-protected by the palace staff, but feels quite lonely. She’s been ill and should be recovering; but she’s dreading going back to her rather old-fashioned governesses and solitary existence. Her doctor understands her well, and proposes that she be sent to a boarding school with good mountain air - and so she ends up, incognito at first, at the Chalet School.

I had entirely forgotten that the first part of the book is mainly concerned with a most unpleasant woman who has been employed as a new Matron to the school. Matron Webb is harsh in her methods, and does not fit in at all with the Chalet School ethos. Some of the Middles form the ‘SSM’ - the Society for the Suppression of Matron - but although some of their ideas are a little amusing, I was more interested to read, again, some of the positive principles of the school - and, I assume, the author - being explained. While they might seem obvious today, they were far ahead of their time. Children and their ideas were respected, conversation with adults was encouraged, and staff were expected to be flexible.

Once the Matron problem is solved, the focus moves back to Elisaveta. She has had no trouble being accepted by the girls in the school, and throws herself enthusiastically into everything, particularly the Girl Guides. However, she has a cousin, who is in line for the throne of Belsornia, but is not much liked by her father or the King (her grandfather). And Elisaveta is in danger if he discovers where she is…

So the latter half of the book is really quite exciting. While I knew the book wouldn’t end in disaster for the main characters, I couldn’t remember at all what happened, and found it quite difficult to put down during the most tense part of the story.

I was surprised at just how much I enjoyed this book. I think the author was at her best in the earlier stories, when the ideas were fresh and the characters realistic, with each book having a different focus. While it helps to have read the author’s first two books, ‘The School at the Chalet’ and ‘Jo of the Chalet School’, as general background, this one stands alone so well that it could make a good introduction to the series.

My edition is a hardback that used to belong to my mother; it has more recently been reproduced in paperback by 'Girls Gone By'.  The Armada paperback edition which can often be found second-hand has only minor cuts and changes.

Highly recommended, if you like this era of children's/teenage school stories. Suitable for fluent readers of about eight or nine and older, but also enjoyable for adults who recall the series with nostalgia from their childhood.

Review copyright 2020 Sue's Book Reviews