A Refuge for the Chalet School (by Amy Fletcher)

(Amazon UK link)

I have re-read Elinor M Brent-Dyer’s ‘Chalet School’ books several times over the past fifty years or so. I first came across my mother’s hardback volumes at my grandparents’ home when I was about ten, and quickly fell in love with the characters. I’ve managed to acquire the entire series and am re-reading them at a rate of about one per month, which should take around five years.

When I learned that there were several ‘fill-ins’ to the series - essentially fan-fiction, but full-length books approved by the Girls Gone By publishers - I was at first rather dubious. Could anything match up to the official EBD canon…? However I was able to acquire one of them inexpensively a couple of years ago - ‘Deira joins the Chalet School' - and liked it so much that I started to look out for some more.

Unfortunately GGBP produces relatively small print runs so these books quickly go out of print, and become highly priced second-hand. But I was recently able to buy ‘A Refuge for the Chalet School’ which was only published a few years ago. Amy Fletcher is the author, and it was well-received in the online forums that I sometimes read.

I was particularly pleased to realise that this book occupies a significant gap in the middle of ‘The Chalet School in Exile’, which I finished re-reading in August. Next time I read the whole series, I will pause in the middle of ‘’Exile’ and read this one in chronological order. Not that it particularly matters, but the author has done extensive research and has slotted the characters in extremely well, covering events which are only mentioned briefly in the second half of ‘Exile’, such as Jo and Jack Maynard’s wedding, and the loss of Daisy and Primula’s mother, Margot Venables.

But this book is so much more than that. It’s like a Chalet School book in its own right, and although at times I was aware, from the style, that it wasn’t written by Brent-Dyer, at others I was sure EBD would have approved. There were a few more exclamation marks than I like, and rather a lot of smiling and coffee drinking, with not a mention of cigarettes, which most of the adults smoked as a matter of course in the war years. There was also, I felt, a tad more overt Christian content than in the main series.

However none of that was a problem, and I very much enjoyed the development of Jacqueline Le Pelley’s character and family members, and also the integration with some of the ‘La Rochelle’ characters, who appear in the latter half of Exile as the two series merge.

The opening section of the book sees Rosalie Dene, Margot Venables and several of the children arriving in Guernsey, having got away from Austria relatively easily. Margot is not strong, and the exertion and stress have taken their toll, but they’re very relieved to be safe at last. 

A chapter or two later sees the arrival of Cornelia, shortly followed by Madge with some others. Eventually Jo and her party get there too after staying awhile in Switzerland to recover from their stressful escape, and we learn some of the details that weren’t covered in ‘Exile’ - and yes, I felt that they were authentic, and nicely answered some of my questions.

The rest of the book covers planning for Jo’s wedding and the day itself, limited inevitably by the threat of war and the impossibility of many of her friends being present, but still a very happy occasion. Josette is born, and we learn more about Margot’s gradual demise, and her thoughtfulness right to the end. Searches are made for somewhere to restart the Chalet School, albeit on a much smaller scale, and there are some picnics on beaches, explorations of the island, reunions of old friends as well as meeting new ones.

There’s even a Nativity pageant, directed by Jo, involving as many children as possible in costumes made themselves. It’s just a standard Christmas story with shepherds and angels and the Holy Family; no modern adaptation or specially written songs. But it’s nicely written, it feels authentically EBD, and it doesn’t go absolutely perfectly.

There were places where I had a little tear in my eye, places where I smiled, and places where I felt as if gaps were truly filled and I now knew much more about that period which was, rather strangely, omitted from ‘Chalet School in Exile’.

So I’m very pleased I managed to buy this book, and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys the series. However it wouldn’t really work as a stand-alone as so many characters from previous books are mentioned, many of them with relatively small roles to play. This is great when it feels like catching up with old friends, but would be very confusing to someone who is not familiar with the people.

Review copyright 2021 Sue's Book Reviews