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The Chalet School #22
Peggy of the Chalet School
Peggy Bettany is amazed to return to the Chalet School and find that she has been appointed Head Girl! Though she is determined to do well, things do not always go smoothly for Peggy. In spite of the gaiety of preparing for the Christmas concert, Peggy finds rebellion amidst the younger girls.
What can be causing it? Peggy and her friends are horrified to learn that she has a real enemy in the school, someone who would be happy to see Peggy disgraced …”
What can be causing it? Peggy and her friends are horrified to learn that she has a real enemy in the school, someone who would be happy to see Peggy disgraced …”
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1950
4 people are currently reading
131 people want to read
About the author
Elinor M. Brent-Dyer
171 books113 followersElinor M. Brent-Dyer was born as Gladys Eleanor May Dyer on 6th April 1894, in South Shields in the industrial northeast of England, and grew up in a terraced house which had no garden or inside toilet. She was the only daughter of Eleanor Watson Rutherford and Charles Morris Brent Dyer. Her father, who had been married before, left home when she was three years old. In 1912, her brother Henzell died at age 17 of cerebro-spinal fever. After her father died, her mother remarried in 1913.
Elinor was educated at a small local private school in South Shields and returned there to teach when she was eighteen after spending two years at the City of Leeds Training College. Her teaching career spanned 36 years, during which she taught in a wide variety of state and private schools in the northeast, in Middlesex, Bedfordshire, Hampshire, and finally in Hereford.
In the early 1920s she adopted the name Elinor Mary Brent-Dyer. A holiday she spent in the Austrian Tyrol at Pertisau-am-Achensee gave her the inspiration for the first location in the Chalet School series. However, her first book, 'Gerry Goes to School', was published in 1922 and was written for the child actress Hazel Bainbridge. Her first 'Chalet' story, 'The School at the Chalet', was originally published in 1925.
In 1930, the same year that 'Jean of Storms' was serialised, she converted to Roman Catholicism.
In 1933 the Brent-Dyer household (she lived with her mother and stepfather until her mother's death in 1957) moved to Hereford. She travelled daily to Peterchurch as a governess.
When her stepfather died she started her own school in Hereford, The Margaret Roper School. It was non-denominational but with a strong religious tradition. Many Chalet School customs were followed, the girls even wore a similar uniform made in the Chalet School's colours of brown and flame. Elinor was rather untidy, erratic and flamboyant and not really suited to being a headmistress. After her school closed in 1948 she devoted most of her time to writing.
Elinor's mother died in 1957 and in 1964 she moved to Redhill, where she lived in a joint establishment with fellow school story author Phyllis Matthewman and her husband, until her death on 20th September 1969.
During her lifetime Elinor M. Brent-Dyer published 101 books but she is remembered mainly for her Chalet School series. The series numbers 58 books and is the longest-surviving series of girls' school-stories ever known, having been continuously in print for more than 70 years. One hundred thousand paperback copies are still being sold each year.
Among her published books are other school stories; family, historical, adventure and animal stories; a cookery book, and four educational geography-readers. She also wrote plays and numerous unpublished poems and was a keen musician.
In 1994, the year of the centenary of her Elinor Brent-Dyer's birth, Friends of the Chalet School put up plaques in Pertisau, South Shields and Hereford, and a headstone was erected on her grave in Redstone Cemetery, since there was not one previously. They also put flowers on her grave on the anniversaries of her birth and death and on other special occasions.
Elinor was educated at a small local private school in South Shields and returned there to teach when she was eighteen after spending two years at the City of Leeds Training College. Her teaching career spanned 36 years, during which she taught in a wide variety of state and private schools in the northeast, in Middlesex, Bedfordshire, Hampshire, and finally in Hereford.
In the early 1920s she adopted the name Elinor Mary Brent-Dyer. A holiday she spent in the Austrian Tyrol at Pertisau-am-Achensee gave her the inspiration for the first location in the Chalet School series. However, her first book, 'Gerry Goes to School', was published in 1922 and was written for the child actress Hazel Bainbridge. Her first 'Chalet' story, 'The School at the Chalet', was originally published in 1925.
In 1930, the same year that 'Jean of Storms' was serialised, she converted to Roman Catholicism.
In 1933 the Brent-Dyer household (she lived with her mother and stepfather until her mother's death in 1957) moved to Hereford. She travelled daily to Peterchurch as a governess.
When her stepfather died she started her own school in Hereford, The Margaret Roper School. It was non-denominational but with a strong religious tradition. Many Chalet School customs were followed, the girls even wore a similar uniform made in the Chalet School's colours of brown and flame. Elinor was rather untidy, erratic and flamboyant and not really suited to being a headmistress. After her school closed in 1948 she devoted most of her time to writing.
Elinor's mother died in 1957 and in 1964 she moved to Redhill, where she lived in a joint establishment with fellow school story author Phyllis Matthewman and her husband, until her death on 20th September 1969.
During her lifetime Elinor M. Brent-Dyer published 101 books but she is remembered mainly for her Chalet School series. The series numbers 58 books and is the longest-surviving series of girls' school-stories ever known, having been continuously in print for more than 70 years. One hundred thousand paperback copies are still being sold each year.
Among her published books are other school stories; family, historical, adventure and animal stories; a cookery book, and four educational geography-readers. She also wrote plays and numerous unpublished poems and was a keen musician.
In 1994, the year of the centenary of her Elinor Brent-Dyer's birth, Friends of the Chalet School put up plaques in Pertisau, South Shields and Hereford, and a headstone was erected on her grave in Redstone Cemetery, since there was not one previously. They also put flowers on her grave on the anniversaries of her birth and death and on other special occasions.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
July 24, 2022
Enjoyable, but lacking in atmosphere and plot compared to its immediate predecessor, ‘The Chalet School and the Island.’ Although St. Briavels is ‘just off the coast of Wales,’ there’s little made of the location and island possibilities in ‘Peggy.’ The characters are likeable enough but definitely not one of the more memorable of the series.
February 9, 2010
This book, which features capable Peggy Bettany, Madge and Jo's niece, is one of the best in the series. When Peggy is selected Head Girl, Eilunedd is jealous and makes trouble for her. Brent-Dyer is always at her best when she has a vivid and well-drawn antagonist (who tends to make the protagonist look a bit bland by comparison).
January 31, 2013
If there's ever a point in the Chalet School series, where it could be described as to having jumped the shark, that point comes for me in this book. It comes for me in several ways; the chicken scene, the train scene(s), the resolution of the train scene(s), and at a certain point where Joey arrives tumultuously on the island. The latter moment in particular is a moment I read and enjoyed in a 'here EBD goes again' manner (similar to when Joey met Mrs Laynard in, I think, Exile?), but not one that I enjoyed in a 'behold the amazing writing' manner. But that's the dichotomy of the Chalet School reading experience, right there.
In a way, St Briavels never really works for me. The undeniable romance of the location remains precisely that. Romance. I don't think EBD really did the pastoral vibe very well after the Tyrolean years. It's as if she burnt herself out, writing some very brilliant books that embraced the romance, the danger and vitality of the location.
So why read Peggy in the first place? Read it for Dickie Christie, and for the amazingly grumpy Polly and Lala before they turn into Real Chalet School Girls. Read it for Maeve and her bumptiousness, and for Mary-Lou (who is admittedly bordering on paragon status already but still remains somehow palatable in this book). Read it for the moments between Polly and Lala and her mother. And read it, just to see, if you go all Tellytubbies whenever you see Lala's name being mentioned.
In a way, St Briavels never really works for me. The undeniable romance of the location remains precisely that. Romance. I don't think EBD really did the pastoral vibe very well after the Tyrolean years. It's as if she burnt herself out, writing some very brilliant books that embraced the romance, the danger and vitality of the location.
So why read Peggy in the first place? Read it for Dickie Christie, and for the amazingly grumpy Polly and Lala before they turn into Real Chalet School Girls. Read it for Maeve and her bumptiousness, and for Mary-Lou (who is admittedly bordering on paragon status already but still remains somehow palatable in this book). Read it for the moments between Polly and Lala and her mother. And read it, just to see, if you go all Tellytubbies whenever you see Lala's name being mentioned.
April 15, 2008
Peggy Bettany (Dick Bettany's - Madge's brother - daughter; it does get confusing keeping track of Madge's, Dick's and Jo's clans of children) gets made head girl of the Chalet School, who are still situated on the island of the Welsh coast. Shocks all round! One senior is terribly jealous and this is the cause of one of the term's dramas.
We're also introduced to Polly and Lala Winterton, new girls, in a way that made me suppose they were going to spend the book trying to learn how to be proper Chalet girls, but they really fade into the background once they're at school.
Madge and family are overseas in Canada (except for Sybil and... is it David? I forget, one of the boys who's away at a separate school), and while over Madge pops out a pair of twin boys. As usual, no-one was aware that she was pregnant. I can't figure out why it was fine for Brent-Dyer to have her characters having so many children (and therefore heaps of sex) and yet any mention of pregnancy seems to be beyond the pale.
There's some descriptions of doll house making as they all prepare for the end of year show and Christmas play (which is mentioned very briefly compared to the whole chapter it would get in earlier books). I used to love the sound of those doll houses, all the girls specialising in making one miniature thing or another.
We're also introduced to Polly and Lala Winterton, new girls, in a way that made me suppose they were going to spend the book trying to learn how to be proper Chalet girls, but they really fade into the background once they're at school.
Madge and family are overseas in Canada (except for Sybil and... is it David? I forget, one of the boys who's away at a separate school), and while over Madge pops out a pair of twin boys. As usual, no-one was aware that she was pregnant. I can't figure out why it was fine for Brent-Dyer to have her characters having so many children (and therefore heaps of sex) and yet any mention of pregnancy seems to be beyond the pale.
There's some descriptions of doll house making as they all prepare for the end of year show and Christmas play (which is mentioned very briefly compared to the whole chapter it would get in earlier books). I used to love the sound of those doll houses, all the girls specialising in making one miniature thing or another.
July 31, 2023
Polly and Lala are two rather spoilt sisters who are new to the Chalet School. They befriend Peggy who manages to get lost, and makes a new friend. Then she finds that she has been given an unexpected responsibility in the school, which stirs up jealousy from someone who should be mature enough to know better. It takes awhile for the problem to be resolved.
Not a bad book, with a few surprises along the way but not particularly exciting either. I'd forgotten some of the detail but remembered the broad outline, despite not having read it for over eleven years and again after another twelve years. Certainly worth reading as part of the series, however.
Latest full review here: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/...
Not a bad book, with a few surprises along the way but not particularly exciting either. I'd forgotten some of the detail but remembered the broad outline, despite not having read it for over eleven years and again after another twelve years. Certainly worth reading as part of the series, however.
Latest full review here: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/...
March 10, 2010
Peggy Bettany has just been appointed Head Girl of the Chalet School, following in her aunt Joey Bettany's previous steps. She's finding it very busy this term, not only does she have her Head Girl duties, but she's also having to look after two new girls, Polly and Lalla, who she met during her school holidays. In addition to that, she finds that she has made enemies with one of the other schoolgirls, who had hoped to become Head Girl this term.
January 11, 2012
New-to-me Chalet School! Which is quite the novelty these days, I must say. I loved loved loved the Fourths all reading Heyer, and this is probably one of the ones which stands up better nowadays than some of the others may do. Thanks, Devonport Secondhand Bookstore! :D
May 20, 2009
Peggy is made head girl and one of the other top-formers is hideously jealous of her and decides to make her life hell. Good times! :D
September 8, 2011
Thoroughly enjoyed this; a tale of schoolgirl morals and spitefulness. Love it!
February 4, 2015
Ah, the importance of knowing one’s place in life. At times I have pondered upon the author’s obsession with babies and large families, but there again, before reliable methods of birth control, a girl’s destiny was often to grow up & become a good mother of a large brood.
Having said that, for 1950 (date published) post WW2 rationing doesn’t appear to have affected the school, now in Wales; so all in all perhaps idealism really is the order of the day? This book is none the worse for that.
Having said that, for 1950 (date published) post WW2 rationing doesn’t appear to have affected the school, now in Wales; so all in all perhaps idealism really is the order of the day? This book is none the worse for that.
July 12, 2015
a fun read
May 11, 2015
A 4.5 really! This story was more in the usual style. Loved the section on speaking regency! And Jo saves the day again!
November 7, 2021
Girls Gone By is ending 2021 by republishing several Chalet School novels I missed in my Chalet School loving teen years. This is the first, slightly longer than the usual, with quite a bit happening: the entertainingly unruly Winterton sisters make their debut at the school, causing only minor fuss before settling in; for various reasons, the entire cohort of senior girls has left school or is otherwise unavailable, meaning newly minted Sixth, Peggy Bettany, niece of the school's founder, is appointed Head Girl; and a campaign of whispers whips some of the younger girls into a frenzy of rule-breaking and rudeness.
Features: a couple of wild coincidences; confusing rules about slang (they can't say something is "smashing" but they can say it's "wizard"?); making a doll house for their fête; people caring way too much about who is Head Girl; the already extended Bettany/Russell/Maynard family getting even bigger; the Maynards moving into a "small" house that has three floors, including four attics and a box room. This is the era when the school is on an island, so there are no mountains for people to fall off, but Peggy and Dickie do manage to get caught in a storm.
Wholesome fun (which, like so many of these books, would be so much better without Jo).
Features: a couple of wild coincidences; confusing rules about slang (they can't say something is "smashing" but they can say it's "wizard"?); making a doll house for their fête; people caring way too much about who is Head Girl; the already extended Bettany/Russell/Maynard family getting even bigger; the Maynards moving into a "small" house that has three floors, including four attics and a box room. This is the era when the school is on an island, so there are no mountains for people to fall off, but Peggy and Dickie do manage to get caught in a storm.
Wholesome fun (which, like so many of these books, would be so much better without Jo).
October 24, 2021
Finally, a chance to read the original text — I have read the Armada paperback several times over the years — but this time nothing has been cut. While most of the cuts don't really affect the plot, I found the explanation of Mrs. Winterton's dislike of boarding schools extremely informative. In a way there are several intertwined plots in this book: Peggy's surprise at being named Head Girl, and how she reacts to the challenge; Eilunedd's resentment at Peggy's appointment; and Polly and Lala Winterton's introduction to the Chalet School. Another enjoyable read.
May 28, 2021
Very fun! A highlight of the current stretch. The slang thing was very funny.
March 6, 2022
The Chalet School is based in Wales for this book, and doesn't include much of Joey Bethany/Maynard's family. I still like the characters, and has the typical chalet school morals and feel-good tales. This is a solid book from the series, even though it's not one of my favourites.
June 6, 2019
not the best, but my copy is very tattered and broken!
December 28, 2022
Georgette Heyer! The perils of gossip! Slang
February 2, 2025
Peggy of The Chalet School is book 24 of a reread (I started at Exile don’t @ at me, then went back to School at the Chalet and continued forward from there), and is book 22 in the series, being one of the books set on St Briavel. First reread of the Chalet School books since I went to Pertisau. Accidentally had this and Island out of order on my shelves 😱
I like Peggy and it’s nice to see the next generation growing up and coming through the school. We get to see some of the middles who will be important coming through now too. All in all it’s lovely though not one of my favourites.
I like Peggy and it’s nice to see the next generation growing up and coming through the school. We get to see some of the middles who will be important coming through now too. All in all it’s lovely though not one of my favourites.
November 26, 2023
Although I owned Armada book as a child this is my first time reading the unabridged book in GGBP
I always liked Peggy as a character but on re-read the book was rather episodic with no real plot
The introduction of the Winterton girls was not really developed and I thought that Jo’s solution to the Peggy/ Eilunnedd problem distinctly odd
I still enjoyed the book but not as engaging as some of the other book in the series
3.5
I always liked Peggy as a character but on re-read the book was rather episodic with no real plot
The introduction of the Winterton girls was not really developed and I thought that Jo’s solution to the Peggy/ Eilunnedd problem distinctly odd
I still enjoyed the book but not as engaging as some of the other book in the series
3.5
November 16, 2021
The unabridged version of Peggy of has a couple of incidents the short version is missing - which makes some things make much more sense. Enjoyable - the island era maybe among the least realistic of the series, but I do like the books set here.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews