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The Chalet School #43
Joey and Co. in Tirol
Joey, always a soft touch, discovers through her teenage triplets that their three next-door neighbours, two boys and a girl, have been abandoned by their father, an absent-minded professor who is trying to reach the moon (and finds children an encumbrance in so doing).
223 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1960
1 person is currently reading
118 people want to read
About the author
Elinor M. Brent-Dyer
171 books111 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 - 13 of 13 reviews
January 2, 2025
Ladies, control yourselves, but this is the book in which Hot Roger makes his debut. Oh, we all know Reg is the official hottie in the Chalet School series (Joey's first born does, after all, memorably swoon into his arms) but Roger? If ever a book involved a swoonsome debut of a new hero to be, this is that book and Roger is that chap. After all, he prances around the Tiernsee in next to nothing, has some particularly flirtatious moments with all the laydeez(hey Roger let's swim and then afterwards I'll check out your scar), and it's all in all a bit special.
Oh yes, apparently a story also happens.
Oh yes, apparently a story also happens.
December 27, 2015
A rare find! This book starts with Joey Maynard being sent away for a holiday. It goes on to adventure, escapades, the criminal element and space travel! We meet the Richardsons who are so important later in the series and learn a lot more about the Maynard boys than in any other books. Loved this book so much!! I missed the school a bit but this is almost a throw back to the earliest books with so much intrigue and adventure!
September 3, 2016
I was pleased when I added this one to my collection - the 'holiday' Chalets were the last ones Armada published, and I'd already met Ruey in the next book, which refers back to this one. I remember not liking the start very much - Joey is downright rude to Madge - and I still feel that way. I also just skipped through the description of the salt mines in Hall, as I've never been keen on the tourist board sections of the books. And one day I will sit down with pen and paper and work out Ruey's family tree, because Daisy's explanation of the relationship between her husband and the Richardsons is just too hard to follow. I think she's saying that Laurie's grandmother was Ruey's great-grandmother ... There are also a couple of loose ends (the two ruffians near the cave above the Sonnalpe, and Ruey's large package from Kenya, are never explained) - these might be the result of cuts for the paperback, although I thought Armada published the last few in full.
But, these things aside, it's OK. It's lovely to be back at the Tiernsee, Joey and Jack have stopped referring to their children as 'the brats' (perhaps somebody had a Quiet Word with EBD), and the adventures are reasonably plausible. It's not a book that sparkles, but it's not the worst.
But, these things aside, it's OK. It's lovely to be back at the Tiernsee, Joey and Jack have stopped referring to their children as 'the brats' (perhaps somebody had a Quiet Word with EBD), and the adventures are reasonably plausible. It's not a book that sparkles, but it's not the worst.
December 10, 2025
This book features Joey Maynard and some of her family on holiday in their new chalet in the Austrian Tirol. They get to know the three Richardsons - Roger, Ruey and Roddy - who are staying in a small chalet nearby, mostly without any adult present.
Inevitably there’s much that’s old-fashioned and I rolled my eyes a little at some of the author’s oft-repeated phrases and values. But there’s a lot of warmth too: Jo and her husband Jack are relaxed parents who expect a lot of their children, but they treat them with respect too.
I enjoyed this book very much, when I read it for the first time in probably twenty years, and again nearly ten years later. Recommended to anyone who enjoys the series and who likes Joey; it makes a change from Brent-Dyer's school-based books.
Latest longer review: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/...
Inevitably there’s much that’s old-fashioned and I rolled my eyes a little at some of the author’s oft-repeated phrases and values. But there’s a lot of warmth too: Jo and her husband Jack are relaxed parents who expect a lot of their children, but they treat them with respect too.
I enjoyed this book very much, when I read it for the first time in probably twenty years, and again nearly ten years later. Recommended to anyone who enjoys the series and who likes Joey; it makes a change from Brent-Dyer's school-based books.
Latest longer review: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/...
March 17, 2011
Really not one I would read again! Boarding school stories that are not actually set IN the school are just not as fun, even if this one was dealing with several pupils (ie. the triplets) and one future pupil (Ruey). It seemed like it would have been a better read had it been condensed into about half its length, and then had the second half actually be at the school with Ruey. Lovely setting though; I felt all happy each time they mentioned Innsbruck!
Okay, and I can't NOT mention this, because it made me laugh so hard. One for the list of Things Which Sounded Okay At The Time Of Writing But Are Now Much Less Innocent - to set the scene, Roddy is trimming a tree branch down to use as a splint for Roger's leg: "Roddy held out his wood, now reduced to a manageable size..."
Okay, and I can't NOT mention this, because it made me laugh so hard. One for the list of Things Which Sounded Okay At The Time Of Writing But Are Now Much Less Innocent - to set the scene, Roddy is trimming a tree branch down to use as a splint for Roger's leg: "Roddy held out his wood, now reduced to a manageable size..."
April 27, 2010
Joey and her family are back in the Tirol for the holidays. One day, her triplets get involved in an accident with another family, the Richardsons. After this, Joey takes them under her wing when she discovers that the Richardsons are motherless, and their father is a very absent-minded guy who always goes off on trips as he is an astronomer.
The three "R's", Roger, Ruey and Roddy make their home with the Manyards and join in all the fun that always seems to happen whenever Joey is around.
The three "R's", Roger, Ruey and Roddy make their home with the Manyards and join in all the fun that always seems to happen whenever Joey is around.
June 6, 2016
Joey takes her incredibly large family on holiday to their new holiday chalet in Tirol. They promptly end up adopting three children whose father is so benignly neglectful that he plans to leave them to live on their own while he heads into space (...what? The most fanciful of all "my parent abandoned me" plot lines). Rather overly long sections of this book are devoted to either discussing packing or cleaning and packing up a house, and it's not set at the school - not my favourite book.
July 30, 2016
One of the better later stories, in which the ensemble read like actual characters rather than one-dimensional plot points!
September 26, 2019
I know many don't like this chalet school book but I do. Anything at the Tiernsee is great!
April 19, 2025
After a stressful few months, a trip to the new family summer home at the Tiernsee was supposed to be a rest for Joey Maynard. But when Len, Con and Margot literally bumped into the Richardson family, Jo couldn’t help butting in…
It is a treat to see Jo renew her acquaintance with the Tiernsee, and to read a Chalet book once more where Jo and her children are once again getting the steamer to Briesau, talking about the Barenbad and Sonnalpe, and swimming in the lake. Of course I would have preferred more encounters with former pupils of the school than the introduction of an entirely new family. But leaving aside some of the ‘comic’ and ‘adventurous’ exploits that I could do without, this is a warm story of Jo doing what she did best when she was last ensconced in Tiernsee - seeing someone in trouble and stepping in to take them under her wing. This isn’t just a jovial summer adventure: the difficult practical and emotional situation of the Richardsons, abandoned by a father who really has no interest in them, is treated with a depth of compassion and sympathy by Jo, her daughters, and EBD herself. It was a great choice after the triplets’ dramas in the previous book to show, rather than tell, how they are growing up and changing. Len can’t help being the responsible elder sister, but here she is able - and allowed by Margot - to look to her new friendship with Ruey; Con is sympathetic and not just a dreamer; Margot is her father’s helpful right hand in an emergency. EBD is an author who always looks forward rather than back, and if that has frustrating results in her lack of interest in Chalet old girl encounters, it has its best result in using this holiday tale to show the triplets’ development into older teenagers.
It is a treat to see Jo renew her acquaintance with the Tiernsee, and to read a Chalet book once more where Jo and her children are once again getting the steamer to Briesau, talking about the Barenbad and Sonnalpe, and swimming in the lake. Of course I would have preferred more encounters with former pupils of the school than the introduction of an entirely new family. But leaving aside some of the ‘comic’ and ‘adventurous’ exploits that I could do without, this is a warm story of Jo doing what she did best when she was last ensconced in Tiernsee - seeing someone in trouble and stepping in to take them under her wing. This isn’t just a jovial summer adventure: the difficult practical and emotional situation of the Richardsons, abandoned by a father who really has no interest in them, is treated with a depth of compassion and sympathy by Jo, her daughters, and EBD herself. It was a great choice after the triplets’ dramas in the previous book to show, rather than tell, how they are growing up and changing. Len can’t help being the responsible elder sister, but here she is able - and allowed by Margot - to look to her new friendship with Ruey; Con is sympathetic and not just a dreamer; Margot is her father’s helpful right hand in an emergency. EBD is an author who always looks forward rather than back, and if that has frustrating results in her lack of interest in Chalet old girl encounters, it has its best result in using this holiday tale to show the triplets’ development into older teenagers.
February 19, 2021
Interesting for two reasons: it's not actually in school for once (summer holidays) and we get to meet more of the male Maynard offspring. The small boy shenanigans live up to their sisters doings.
April 6, 2024
Utterly ridiculous. Still very enjoyable!
October 31, 2024
I love the Chalet School fill-in books written by Elinor M Brent-Dyer herself. The ones that take place out of the school and lets us get a glimpse of the male members of the family such as Jo's sons Stephen, Charles and Mike (though Mike didn't feature heavily here). Although it doesn't take place in the school, the family has the same type of excursions and adventures. The added attraction in this book is that it takes place in Tirol.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews