First term at Malory Towers (by Enid Blyton)

(Amazon UK link)

I finished rereading the ‘St Clare’s’ series by Enid Blyton in March last year, and decided to take a break from Blyton books for a while. But I spotted the Malory Towers books on my shelves; they were my absolute favourite as a teenager, when I would read them yearly. I realised that I did reread ‘First term at Malory Towers’ as recently as December 2022, but I didn’t subsequently read most of the rest of the series. So I decided to start over. 

Despite having read this book probably dozens of times over the past fifty-five years, I had forgotten the early chapters, and a lot of the details. So I enjoyed it over again. It’s a quick read - intended for girls aged 9-11 originally, with around 150 pages. I’m not sure quite why I like these books so much; they’re not the greatest writing, and are somewhat formulaic. Many of the characters are somewhat caricatured, too.

But they’re still good stories, at least in my view. This one features 12-year-old Darrell Rivers, who is a new girl at a boarding school in Cornwall, Malory Towers. We see her saying goodbye to her mother at the railway station, then meeting some of the girls in her form on the way there. She’s a fairly sensible girl who has been looking forward to going to this school for a long time. 

It’s the Summer term, and not entirely clear why Darrell has joined then rather than waiting until September. But she’s not the only new girl in the first year. There’s also Sally, a self-contained young person who doesn’t want to be friendly with anyone, and Gwendoline, who quickly makes herself unpopular by her continual boasting and self-centeredness.

Darrell quickly settles in, and becomes somewhat friendly with two girls who like to play tricks. Alicia is very intelligent, but also quite sharp in her comments, and she’s quick to form judgements. And her closest friend is Betty, who sleeps in a different tower. Then there’s Irene, who loves both music and maths, but doesn’t play much of a part in this book, and Kathleen, the oldest and head of the class, who’s good at keeping order and making wise decisions. 

In addition, there’s Joan, who’s Scottish and somewhat blunt, Emily who’s very quiet and loves to sew, and Mary-Lou, who is small and very nervous. I had to check back in the book to find the tenth ‘north tower’ girl: Violet. She’s described as colourless, and that nobody really knows when she’s around. Evidently I didn’t notice her either. 

Darrell is pleased to find that she’s fairly good academically - in stark contrast to Gwendoline, who was previously educated by an adoring governess. Darrell is also a strong swimmer, and good at sport. She finds it hard to sympathise with poor, nervous Mary-Lou. But Mary-Lou turns out to have more courage than she realised, and a lot of loyalty.  Darrell, meanwhile, has trouble with her fiery temper which blazes out more than once, and eventually she learns who her real friends are when she’s accused of something she didn’t do. 

This book was first published in 1946 but - rather like the Chalet School books - it doesn’t feel particularly dated. Of course there are no computers or mobile phones, but people are people, and boarding schools are probably little different today, other than having modern technology.

These and similar books in part formed my personal ethics - I learned what is considered ‘sporting’, and the importance of hard work. I understood intuitively the difference between playing jokes (including teasing and ‘ragging’) and spiteful bullying. I saw the importance of loyalty in friendship, and also how vital it is to have supportive families. 

Some of the writing is not the greatest quality, and there are slightly irritating author asides here and there, and repetitive conversation where people tell each other things they know already. But these books are nostalgic for me, and even looking at them as an adult, I like them very much. There’s even a moment of poignancy towards the end. 

My granddaughter enjoyed these as audio-books from the age of about seven, and then read them herself. And I’ve lent my books to local friends, aged between about ten and fifteen. So they can still be appreciated and enjoyed by the modern generation, which is doubtless why they have been reprinted so many times.

Recommended, if you like this genre, though for adults it’s probably best to have read them first in childhood.

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