The Chalet School in Guernsey (by Katherine Bruce)

(Amazon UK link)

I was pleased to acquire a few of the many Chalet School fill-ins over the past year. These books are a form of ‘fan fiction’ written by authors other than Elinor M Brent-Dyer, but they’re approved by ‘Girls Gone By’, and widely accepted in the Chalet School readership. I hadn’t previously read any by Katherine Bruce, but have just finished reading ‘The Chalet School in Guernsey’

This book nicely fills in the missing term between 'The Chalet School in Exile', and 'The Chalet School goes to it', and as such I thought it an interesting read. The author clearly knows Guernsey well and has done plenty of research, both geographic and historical. This is set during the war years, during the period when it looks as though it’s going to be unsafe for the Chalet School to continue where they are. So the second part of the book mostly consists of conversation and planning related to their next move.

The style is very much that of Elinor M Brent-Dyer; I thought the author did that well, with conversations and asides that could easily have been in one of the original books. The first half of the book is mostly about a new girl, Mélanie, who - many years earlier - was very angry with the school. When she realises that it’s owned by the people she hated, she is determined to take some kind of revenge. 

There was a lot of potential to the plot, and some interesting development, but I felt it petered out somewhat. That’s the case in some of EBD’s work, when difficult girls become real Chalet School girls, and it’s not entirely believable; but Mélanie’s capitulation feels really too easy.

There are some good exchanges in the staff room; almost more than there are between the girls. As such it felt rather as if the book were written more for those like me who loved the books forty or more years ago rather than for today’s teens. But perhaps the series is rarely read by teenagers nowadays - and as one of those adults, I did appreciate the staff-room discussions.

So there’s plenty that I liked about this book, and a lot that feels authentic to the region and the period. But at the same time, I didn’t feel that the characterisation was as powerful as in some of the originals. There’s not much character development in this book, and I didn’t find myself feeling any strong emotions. Cornelia as Head Girl has quite a significant role but she didn’t seem much like the Cornelia of previous books. Inevitably she’s matured, particularly after her experiences escaping from Austria, but I didn’t feel that I got to know her any better.

As for the second half of the book, about the potential move to England, I found that it dragged somewhat. There’s a lot of detail about who will do what, and what has to be packed - but after a while I started skimming as I really didn’t care. The same is true about the description of the annual fund-raising sale. 

There’s a sense in which that made the book more authentic; many of Brent-Dyer’s books have chapters describing every stall and the background to them, and I often skim those. But the originals often have extra incidents arising - unexpected winners of prizes, or structures collapsing, or important people having some kind of crisis. It was interesting to read the first couple of Guernsey legends being portrayed - and a good idea to use that theme for the sale - but after a while I lost interest.

Still, I’m glad that I read this; as with ‘A Refuge for the Chalet School’ it’s a useful fill-in for a missing period in the Chalet School annals, and helps the series flow rather better. I’m in awe of anyone who can write in EBD’s style, and will no doubt read this again when next I re-read the series. So I’d recommend it to any aficionados of the series who are interested in what might have happened in the ‘missing’ terms; but not as a standalone book, or as an introduction to the series.

Unfortunately 'Girls Gone By' publications go out of print quickly, and can be highly priced after their initial production. But it's often possible to find these books more inexpensively second-hand, at online marketplaces or in related Facebook groups.

Review copyright 2021 Sue's Book Reviews