The Chalet School triplets (by Elinor M Brent-Dyer)

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It’s only nine years since I last read ‘The Chalet School triplets’, one of the later volumes in the lengthy series by Elinor M Brent-Dyer. It's book 49 in the original list. But it’s not one I reread regularly when I was younger, and I found that I hadn’t recalled any of the story-lines.  

The last time I read this, I only had the Armada paperback edition. It was supposedly only shortened in minor ways, but ‘frequently’.  So I was very pleased when I was able to acquire a Girls Gone By edition in the intervening years, containing the full original text, with the bonus of a relevant short story at the end.

This book focuses on Joey Maynard’s oldest offspring, her triplets, who are now approaching sixteen. They are some of my favourite characters in the book, and I find them all three-dimensional and believable. They look quite different: Len is tall, slim and auburn, Con is shorter, with very dark hair, and even more slim. Margot has curly red hair, and is slightly more stocky, though there’s a discrepancy in the book making it uncertain whether she’s a little shorter than Len, or a little taller. It doesn’t matter: minor mistakes like these are common in these books. Somehow, they add to the charm. 

But the characters of the three are also quite distinct, and have become more so as they have grown up. Len is a typical eldest child: she’s careful, generous with her attention, good with children, reliable and straightforward. She does have a temper, but she keeps it mostly under control, and she works very hard. She hopes to teach when she’s finished at university. Len is the only one of the three to have become a prefect so far, and she has taken some of the junior middles somewhat under her wing.

Con is the dreamy, intuitive and sensitive triplet who loves to write. She hopes eventually to support herself with writing, but plans to be a journalist in the meantime. She sometimes seems a bit vague, but then observes situations or relationships with mature insight. She loves beauty, and hates mathematics. When she’s stressed, she sleepwalks. Like her sister, she’s generous and honest, but can also lose track of anything and anyone else when she’s in the middle of a writing project.

Then there’s Margot, who had a fiercely hot temper as a child, and was the one who rebelled or fought against her parents’ wishes most often. She is very bright, but for many years didn’t bother with studying or working, as she knew she could get by. She was quite frail as a child, but is now sturdy and strong, and thinking of going into medicine, although she is considering other plans - having read the later books previously, I know what this refers to; it’s only hinted at in this book.

The anecdotes and events of this book revolve more around the triplets than anyone else, and I liked that aspect as I find them such interesting people. Len makes a promise to her younger friends, but then can’t find anyone to give her permission to do what she intended, so she has to do something else. This leads to a near tragedy, although it’s not her fault. Then Len and Con stay out in a blizzard longer than they should, helping a younger and frightened child get back to the Chalet. 

Margot has an exciting invitation from her best friend Emerence, who lives in Australia; she’s determined to work her hardest so nobody tries to stop her from accepting. Then she gets an unpleasant toothache, and becomes grumpy, which leads to another near disaster… and a shock for Margot, who thought she had conquered her hot temper. 

Con has her moment when one of the main characters in the St Mildred’s pantomime has to drop out, and she fulfils it with poise and confidence, despite overhearing someone disparaging her. And then all three get involved in a lengthy and dangerous search when their young sister Cecil goes missing…

So there’s a lot in this book, including some asides and commentary that I’m sure I’ve never read before, so I assume those were cuts made in the Armada paperback. I always like reading the full versions, even if they’re a tad long-winded sometimes. But I didn’t find this one over-long at all, and read it in just a couple of sittings.

Best read after earlier books in the series, but as with many of the others, it could stand alone. Intended originally for teenagers, these books are now mostly read by nostalgic adults like myself. But I hope there are plenty of young teens who try them and enjoy them, just as there are new, younger fans of Enid Blyton’s school stories.

I enjoyed the extra short story at the back of the book, too; it's about Felicity Maynard, who doesn't come into the main book much. She's at school in the short story, and has one of those days when everything seems to go wrong.  

Sadly, the GGB editions of these books go out of print rather quickly, and used editions can be very expensive. The Armada paperbacks are usually cheaper and more readily found in charity shops and second-hand online bookstores.  

Review copyright 2026 Sue's Book Reviews