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The Chalet School #36
A Problem for the Chalet School
Rosamund Lilley is horrified to learn that she has won a scholarship to the Chalet School given by Tom Gay's parents. She doesn't want to leave her friends and family in a south of England town and go to Switzerland. But her mother feels that Rosamund was being influenced by the wrong girls, especially Joan Baker, their next-door neighbour, and accepts for her.
Once she arrives she is introduced to the Maynard triplets and quickly becomes friends with Len, making the transition into school life easier. She also discovers that it isn't as scary as she had feared.
Once she arrives she is introduced to the Maynard triplets and quickly becomes friends with Len, making the transition into school life easier. She also discovers that it isn't as scary as she had feared.
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1956
127 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 - 24 of 24 reviews
March 7, 2018
This is one of the more interesting Chalet School books. This was first published in 1956, and it's explicitly about class. It's inherently interesting, because this tends to be a series that doesn't question its own premise.
It's explicitly about class in a pretty tangled way. Rosamund is offered a scholarship to this posh boarding school and doesn't want to go; her parents point out it will offer her great opportunities in life, plus they don't really like the friends she has in their current neighborhood; Joan (one friend) mocks her because Rosamund's mother was a lady's maid while Joan's mother worked in a shop, a step up; Rosamund worries what people will say about her parents' occupations at school, and it turns out that they don't care at all - though Joan thinks she'll be able to hold the "your father is a gardener" bit over Rosamund's head without people caring that her own mother worked in a shop -
I can't quite sort out the class distinctions in this world, and I'm left with the feeling that the author can't, either. This is not helped by Rosamund discovering twice, a few dozen pages apart, that she's expected to be trilingual during lessons.
And then we have to the Chalet School morality angle, where Joan comes in wearing makeup (GASP), the world's most quickly applied nail polish, and a dress that's too mature for her, looking "cheaply pretty" - that's a direct quote - and it reads as more class-based judgement, from this school that ostensibly doesn't care who your parents are - as long as you make the same decisions as them, I guess? And don't stand out? Or talk about boys? That conversation where Mary-Lou talks to Dr. Jack about Joan's "cheap ideas" (hmmmm, consistent adjective, that) - it's a good conversation, from a character standpoint! Mary-Lou worries about sounding like a snob, and she and her friends don't talk about boys, and then Jack says that Joan probably belongs to "the sort of people who finish school at fifteen" and are much more grown-up about that sort of thing than Chalet School girls.
(This might be the first book where Jack gets to speak actual paragraphs since Jo to the Rescue. That's, by my count, eight kids ago.)
And so despite the fact that the conversation ends with Jack telling Mary-Lou to help Joan and be a friend, this ends up being about class in more telling way, I think, than it was meant to be.
The times, they are a-changin' - but the Chalet School doesn't seem to notice.
It's explicitly about class in a pretty tangled way. Rosamund is offered a scholarship to this posh boarding school and doesn't want to go; her parents point out it will offer her great opportunities in life, plus they don't really like the friends she has in their current neighborhood; Joan (one friend) mocks her because Rosamund's mother was a lady's maid while Joan's mother worked in a shop, a step up; Rosamund worries what people will say about her parents' occupations at school, and it turns out that they don't care at all - though Joan thinks she'll be able to hold the "your father is a gardener" bit over Rosamund's head without people caring that her own mother worked in a shop -
I can't quite sort out the class distinctions in this world, and I'm left with the feeling that the author can't, either. This is not helped by Rosamund discovering twice, a few dozen pages apart, that she's expected to be trilingual during lessons.
And then we have to the Chalet School morality angle, where Joan comes in wearing makeup (GASP), the world's most quickly applied nail polish, and a dress that's too mature for her, looking "cheaply pretty" - that's a direct quote - and it reads as more class-based judgement, from this school that ostensibly doesn't care who your parents are - as long as you make the same decisions as them, I guess? And don't stand out? Or talk about boys? That conversation where Mary-Lou talks to Dr. Jack about Joan's "cheap ideas" (hmmmm, consistent adjective, that) - it's a good conversation, from a character standpoint! Mary-Lou worries about sounding like a snob, and she and her friends don't talk about boys, and then Jack says that Joan probably belongs to "the sort of people who finish school at fifteen" and are much more grown-up about that sort of thing than Chalet School girls.
(This might be the first book where Jack gets to speak actual paragraphs since Jo to the Rescue. That's, by my count, eight kids ago.)
And so despite the fact that the conversation ends with Jack telling Mary-Lou to help Joan and be a friend, this ends up being about class in more telling way, I think, than it was meant to be.
The times, they are a-changin' - but the Chalet School doesn't seem to notice.
October 29, 2013
I rather love A Problem for the Chalet School though I have the suspicion that I'm not meant to. I suspect I'm meant to be Team Chalet and Team Good Egg throughout but I can't help sort of loving the bumptious joy that is Joan Baker.
You know the routine in the series at this point now, right? New girl joins school, new girl settles in, we go and have a meal with the random woman who lives next door, Mary-Lou sorts stuff out, jollity, jollity, highjinks, end of term.
This time round, Brent-Dyer sticks with the format but then goes a little bit crazy and throws in some social commentary and a bit of class warfare. Which is amazing, really, but if Brent-Dyer ever had the handle on social analysis, she had it very early on in books like Exile and around that era, and now her handle isn't really a handle any more. It is, should I prolong the life of this metaphor to painful proportions, more of a spatula than a handle and it is a spatula made of spaghetti.
Oh, I'm being unfair because even in this knotty 'trying to keep up with the times and finding that we don't really like what the times are becoming' book, Brent-Dyer works her old magic and throws a sudden piece of fiery prose into the works: "when you come to the root of matters, it’s you – you – YOU that matters all the time – what you are!" and suddenly I'm in love again with this batty series of bonkers books.
Also Jack Maynard gets to talk to people! By himself! For this, this book gets an extra star.
You know the routine in the series at this point now, right? New girl joins school, new girl settles in, we go and have a meal with the random woman who lives next door, Mary-Lou sorts stuff out, jollity, jollity, highjinks, end of term.
This time round, Brent-Dyer sticks with the format but then goes a little bit crazy and throws in some social commentary and a bit of class warfare. Which is amazing, really, but if Brent-Dyer ever had the handle on social analysis, she had it very early on in books like Exile and around that era, and now her handle isn't really a handle any more. It is, should I prolong the life of this metaphor to painful proportions, more of a spatula than a handle and it is a spatula made of spaghetti.
Oh, I'm being unfair because even in this knotty 'trying to keep up with the times and finding that we don't really like what the times are becoming' book, Brent-Dyer works her old magic and throws a sudden piece of fiery prose into the works: "when you come to the root of matters, it’s you – you – YOU that matters all the time – what you are!" and suddenly I'm in love again with this batty series of bonkers books.
Also Jack Maynard gets to talk to people! By himself! For this, this book gets an extra star.
July 26, 2016
Definitely Rosamund and Joan on the cover, in their matching pink frocks; and it's definitely abroad. But Joan should have a blonde perm, not a dark bob; and Rosamund should have two long dark plaits and certainly shouldn't be dancing about with joy like that. So this one deserves some sort of prize just for the bizarre cover illustration.
The actual story is an interesting one because it is explicitly about class and rank, unlike the usual Chalet story, in which class and rank are just there. Neither Rosamund nor Joan is your typical Chalet girl - they are both from humble backgrounds, ie homes with no inside bathroom and presumably not even a woman who 'does' (which even the most impoverished EBD characters usually enjoy). But the point of the story is that Rosamund is a Chalet girl, because she's been properly brought up by a mother who has Standards. Joan isn't, because she hasn't, and EBD is obliquely critical of her parents for this.
I don't think it's ruining the book to let on that Joan accepts the error of her ways by the end of it: we'd hardly expect anything less of EBD. But Joan's story doesn't entirely end with this book - she hangs around for a few more years and never quite fits in, and is in many respects much more interesting than the hundreds of Chalet girls who conform quite happily and end up by becoming excellent prefects.
A particularly Chalet-ish Chalet School book, this one, in other respects. I did feel rather cheated by the second half of the term, which is skipped in half a chapter. But it's hot, and there's tennis, and the usual chatter about who is going on to St Mildred's and who isn't ...
The actual story is an interesting one because it is explicitly about class and rank, unlike the usual Chalet story, in which class and rank are just there. Neither Rosamund nor Joan is your typical Chalet girl - they are both from humble backgrounds, ie homes with no inside bathroom and presumably not even a woman who 'does' (which even the most impoverished EBD characters usually enjoy). But the point of the story is that Rosamund is a Chalet girl, because she's been properly brought up by a mother who has Standards. Joan isn't, because she hasn't, and EBD is obliquely critical of her parents for this.
I don't think it's ruining the book to let on that Joan accepts the error of her ways by the end of it: we'd hardly expect anything less of EBD. But Joan's story doesn't entirely end with this book - she hangs around for a few more years and never quite fits in, and is in many respects much more interesting than the hundreds of Chalet girls who conform quite happily and end up by becoming excellent prefects.
A particularly Chalet-ish Chalet School book, this one, in other respects. I did feel rather cheated by the second half of the term, which is skipped in half a chapter. But it's hot, and there's tennis, and the usual chatter about who is going on to St Mildred's and who isn't ...
October 6, 2008
Joan Baker surely must be the most unlikely Chalet School girl EVER! She persuades her nouveau riche father to pony up to send her there purely because former pal Rosamund Lilley has gone there on a scholarship--and Joan doesn't want to be outdone. Joan is shocked to find that quiet, hard-working Rosamund fits into the Chalet school very well, even making friends her first term there, whereas she, Joan, has very different objectives and strategies for success. Rosamund, on the other hand, was glad to get away from domineering Joan, beginning to suspect that she was not a good influence. This is one of the most entertaining Chalet School books, focusing on character development and relationships rather than harrowing adventures and miraculous rescues. Spoiler alert:
Will Joan ever learn the Chalet School way and alter her personality (as well as her clothing, makeup, language, etc.) to fit in? It doesn't happen easily, for Joan struggles to maintain her individual style (which Chaletians consider rebellious and tawdry) until she nearly puts herself in danger. Not until the end does Joan experience the inevitable transformation to a real Chalet girl.
Brent-Dyer is at her most successful when she develops characters who are imperfect and resistant to the Chalet School rules, but usually the characters cave too quickly. This time the conflict lasts throughout the novel, making much more compelling reading than usual.
Will Joan ever learn the Chalet School way and alter her personality (as well as her clothing, makeup, language, etc.) to fit in? It doesn't happen easily, for Joan struggles to maintain her individual style (which Chaletians consider rebellious and tawdry) until she nearly puts herself in danger. Not until the end does Joan experience the inevitable transformation to a real Chalet girl.
Brent-Dyer is at her most successful when she develops characters who are imperfect and resistant to the Chalet School rules, but usually the characters cave too quickly. This time the conflict lasts throughout the novel, making much more compelling reading than usual.
May 1, 2021
Book 36 in the 60 book series. *disclaimer: I did not read this exact edition*
I thought when I started this book that it would not be my favourite, but changed my mind part way through. This was probably partly due to the fact that there wasn't as big a gap in between the books, so I knew most of the girls, and that it felt a lot more like the old Chalet School. I really wish I could someday have the whole entire series - I'm missing so many stories!
I'm rather sad that Madge lives elsewhere now (maybe in the English Branch of the School? I can't rightly remember), but it's lots of fun to see Joey all grown up with kids, and Jack Maynard as well!
There is some swearing, slang, rudeness and disobedience, but as in all the other books, this is condemned, and the offenders are punished.
I thought when I started this book that it would not be my favourite, but changed my mind part way through. This was probably partly due to the fact that there wasn't as big a gap in between the books, so I knew most of the girls, and that it felt a lot more like the old Chalet School. I really wish I could someday have the whole entire series - I'm missing so many stories!
I'm rather sad that Madge lives elsewhere now (maybe in the English Branch of the School? I can't rightly remember), but it's lots of fun to see Joey all grown up with kids, and Jack Maynard as well!
There is some swearing, slang, rudeness and disobedience, but as in all the other books, this is condemned, and the offenders are punished.
March 7, 2017
Definitely not the most exciting book from The Chalet school series, but a good read nonetheless.
March 16, 2025
Some of the books in this series are samey, with too much detail about lessons, or end-of-term plays. But this one has a story that I found very interesting. I didn’t remember what happened at all when I read it after over twenty years, and only vaguely when I re-read ten years later.
I was full of admiration for the way that the author made it clear that a particular girl's mindset was tacky and 'cheap' without ever being condescending; she also makes it plain that what matters is someone's character and behaviour rather than what 'class' or background they come from.
I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this book, which is around 36th or 40th in the series, depending on how they are counted. Inevitably it’s a little dated, and some ideas about education have changed since the middle of the 20th century. Nonetheless, Brent-Dyer created believable people and I found myself strongly drawn into this book. Definitely recommended to fans of the series.
Latest longer review: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/...
I was full of admiration for the way that the author made it clear that a particular girl's mindset was tacky and 'cheap' without ever being condescending; she also makes it plain that what matters is someone's character and behaviour rather than what 'class' or background they come from.
I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this book, which is around 36th or 40th in the series, depending on how they are counted. Inevitably it’s a little dated, and some ideas about education have changed since the middle of the 20th century. Nonetheless, Brent-Dyer created believable people and I found myself strongly drawn into this book. Definitely recommended to fans of the series.
Latest longer review: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/...
April 15, 2010
Rosamund Lilley has won a scholarship to the Chalet School, but she doesn't want to leave her family and friends. However, her parents feel that she should go, as it is a tremendous opportunity, and in addition to that, Rosamund is being influenced by Joan Baker, a girl with an unsavoury reputation.
When she arrives at the Chalet School, Len Manyard has been assigned to help her out, and she slowly finds her feet in the school. A few weeks later, Joan turns up at the Chalet School as well! Her father wins the lottery, and decides to send her to school, and she decided to go to the same school as Rosamund.
Joan has a really hard time fitting in, she tries to maintain her influence over Rosamund and some of the younger girls, but Mary-Lou steps in to save the day.
When she arrives at the Chalet School, Len Manyard has been assigned to help her out, and she slowly finds her feet in the school. A few weeks later, Joan turns up at the Chalet School as well! Her father wins the lottery, and decides to send her to school, and she decided to go to the same school as Rosamund.
Joan has a really hard time fitting in, she tries to maintain her influence over Rosamund and some of the younger girls, but Mary-Lou steps in to save the day.
May 29, 2016
Another new girl starts at the Chalet School book - this time Rosamund is a scholarship girl who speaks neither French nor German (which seems a bit rough, getting dumped in lessons in both those languages at age 14). She is taken under Len Maynard's wing and is blossoming away when dun dun duuuuun - her frenemy from her old school follows her to the Chalet School (in terribly unlikely circumstances). Joan wears *make-up*, and terribly tacky clothes, and swears, and is unwilling to learn - yes, she's the worst, we get it. She is of course redeemed somewhat by the end of the book, determined to be a real Chaletian - and I quite liked the redemption story here. Joan fights against it then is won over in a satisfying fashion.
April 10, 2016
1st GR read Feb 2013, 2nd GR read March 2016.
Review from 2/13: Abridged version loses a great deal, and the unabridged edition has far more interesting details.
from 3/16: I still hold by the former, but I can see why the 1960s/70s/80s Armada editions had a lot abridged from them - and a lot of it was showing EBD's changing Christianity as she converted, imbuing her characters with it. I like the unabridged Mary-Lou Trelawney far less than the abridged character, to be truthful.
Review from 2/13: Abridged version loses a great deal, and the unabridged edition has far more interesting details.
from 3/16: I still hold by the former, but I can see why the 1960s/70s/80s Armada editions had a lot abridged from them - and a lot of it was showing EBD's changing Christianity as she converted, imbuing her characters with it. I like the unabridged Mary-Lou Trelawney far less than the abridged character, to be truthful.
January 27, 2015
How times have changed. Rosamund’s career aspirations are to be an air hostess (v. glamorous in 1956), but with the present day steep costs of overseas boarding schools, would her parents now see this as cost effective?
This particular book is a reminder of the usefulness of subliminal education. Lots of simple, useful, French phrases abound, and there’s even the direct instruction to look up the meaning of the word ‘antithesis’.
This particular book is a reminder of the usefulness of subliminal education. Lots of simple, useful, French phrases abound, and there’s even the direct instruction to look up the meaning of the word ‘antithesis’.
June 19, 2014
This is an interesting one - trying to help identify some of the reasons why the chalet school is great to help readers do the right thing. Rosamund Lilley is given a scholarship to attend the Chalet school and fits in really well. Her bullying friend Joan Baker follows her to the school and tries to continue her bullying ways, thinking herself far superior. The chalet school works it's magic to sort them out into two nice girls. A good story with some learning lessons.
May 20, 2009
Rosamund and Joan! Dear, quiet, mousey Rosamund who is sent to the Chalet School to get her away from the likes of her domineering, trouble-maker neighbour Joan... who then turns up at the school herself anyway. Wonderful fun.
April 25, 2021
‘Standing by the desk, grinning triumphantly at her, was the last person in the world she had expected to see - as she knew in a flash, that she wanted to see.’ Rosamund Lilley doesn’t want to accept the scholarship that takes her to the Chalet School - won’t it be full of girls who look down on her working-class background? But when Joan Baker follows, determined to bully Rosamund back under her thumb, the Chalet School finds itself with a much bigger problem.
This is one of the best of the Swiss books in the Chalet series. EBD gives great insights into shy Rosamund, gradually blossoming in her new environment, and her would-be nemesis Joan.
It’s easy to find fault with the inevitable class bias in EBD’s picture of Joan’s ‘cheap perm’ and somewhat occluded hints at a precocious sexuality expressed in tight dresses, nail varnish and embarrassing ‘talk about boys’. But that’s not all there is to Joan: she’s been used to dominating her school and friends, comes to the Chalet School primarily out of an unacknowledged desire for revenge on Rosamund for breaking out of her control and enjoys the thought of reasserting her domination - an enjoyment that EBD conveys unsettlingly well.
It’s that delight in dominating that the school has to break down if it’s going to help Joan - and what EBD shows in this book is a whole group of people who see things in Joan that they don’t like (swearing, for instance) but who in their different ways overlook all her hostility towards them to bring her into their community. Len and Con Maynard, for the first time brought to life as central characters, overlook her early despising of them to comfort her at a moment of crisis. Mary-Lou Trelawney, champion butter-in, realises that Joan is on a fast track to expulsion and deliberately cultivates her with a view to preventing that. We’re given a gripping insight into prefect Hilary Wilson’s mind when she is faced with the dramatic problem of how to stop Joan from running off when she is the only responsible person anywhere near her. Miss Annersley comes into her main encounter with a hostile Joan determined not to expel her, and finally Joey Maynard decides that Joan can’t be allowed to end the term squashed and subdued but needs the ‘shadow’ over her removed properly. Modern readers might disagree with some of the things the school doesn’t like about Joan, but this book is one of the best examples of the Chalet ethos: no-one should be cast out who has a chance of redemption; everyone, regardless of what they come from, can be a ‘real Chalet School girl.’
This is one of the best of the Swiss books in the Chalet series. EBD gives great insights into shy Rosamund, gradually blossoming in her new environment, and her would-be nemesis Joan.
It’s easy to find fault with the inevitable class bias in EBD’s picture of Joan’s ‘cheap perm’ and somewhat occluded hints at a precocious sexuality expressed in tight dresses, nail varnish and embarrassing ‘talk about boys’. But that’s not all there is to Joan: she’s been used to dominating her school and friends, comes to the Chalet School primarily out of an unacknowledged desire for revenge on Rosamund for breaking out of her control and enjoys the thought of reasserting her domination - an enjoyment that EBD conveys unsettlingly well.
It’s that delight in dominating that the school has to break down if it’s going to help Joan - and what EBD shows in this book is a whole group of people who see things in Joan that they don’t like (swearing, for instance) but who in their different ways overlook all her hostility towards them to bring her into their community. Len and Con Maynard, for the first time brought to life as central characters, overlook her early despising of them to comfort her at a moment of crisis. Mary-Lou Trelawney, champion butter-in, realises that Joan is on a fast track to expulsion and deliberately cultivates her with a view to preventing that. We’re given a gripping insight into prefect Hilary Wilson’s mind when she is faced with the dramatic problem of how to stop Joan from running off when she is the only responsible person anywhere near her. Miss Annersley comes into her main encounter with a hostile Joan determined not to expel her, and finally Joey Maynard decides that Joan can’t be allowed to end the term squashed and subdued but needs the ‘shadow’ over her removed properly. Modern readers might disagree with some of the things the school doesn’t like about Joan, but this book is one of the best examples of the Chalet ethos: no-one should be cast out who has a chance of redemption; everyone, regardless of what they come from, can be a ‘real Chalet School girl.’
December 4, 2024
Another variation on new girl coming to the Chalet School and after some problems at first eventually settling done to become a true Chalet School girl
This book has a few variations on this theme , mainly that 2 girls from ‘working class ‘ background who were friends at their previous school arrive at the Chalet School by different routes and with contrasting attitudes to the school ethos
The recent reviews state that the book is about class but it is really about character , as EBD deliberately has the 2 new girls coming form same socioeconomic background but with different characters and moral/ethical upbringings
The book emphasises the fact that it is not who or what your parents are but you yourself that matters and the school is welcoming to the girl who accepts the culture of the Chalet School but also tries to encourage the other girl to ‘fit in’ and enjoy the benefits and privileges of the highly individual and specialised school that is the Chalet School
Some modern , 1950s touches with the girls hoping to be an Air Hostess or PA in a big firm
Also one of the girls ( you can guess which one) is able to attend the school due to her family’s big win on the Football Pools
Solid addition to the Chalet School series
This book has a few variations on this theme , mainly that 2 girls from ‘working class ‘ background who were friends at their previous school arrive at the Chalet School by different routes and with contrasting attitudes to the school ethos
The recent reviews state that the book is about class but it is really about character , as EBD deliberately has the 2 new girls coming form same socioeconomic background but with different characters and moral/ethical upbringings
The book emphasises the fact that it is not who or what your parents are but you yourself that matters and the school is welcoming to the girl who accepts the culture of the Chalet School but also tries to encourage the other girl to ‘fit in’ and enjoy the benefits and privileges of the highly individual and specialised school that is the Chalet School
Some modern , 1950s touches with the girls hoping to be an Air Hostess or PA in a big firm
Also one of the girls ( you can guess which one) is able to attend the school due to her family’s big win on the Football Pools
Solid addition to the Chalet School series
September 12, 2021
Not one but two new students arrive at the Chalet School in this one, both working class girls who live next door to each other: shy, good-natured, kind of boring Rosamund and loud, brassy, blousy Joan. Joan is the titular problem. She wears make-up and clothes that are too old for her. She talks to boys. She doesn't see the point in bathing every day, she doesn't keep her locker tidy and... she's a GIGGLER.
Rosamund fits in to the school straight away; Joan never really does, even though the school manages to curb her worst problems. She'd be a nightmare in real life, but I enjoyed her efforts at shocking the school immensely.
Rosamund fits in to the school straight away; Joan never really does, even though the school manages to curb her worst problems. She'd be a nightmare in real life, but I enjoyed her efforts at shocking the school immensely.
January 26, 2026
One of the more interesting stories, where two totally different girls join the school, different to each other and also to the pupils already there. One fits in very well, the other doesn’t want to. In fact, the latter, Joan, seems more like today’s fourteen year old whilst everyone else appears to be immature and naive. So, apart from her need to be the queen bee in, or to dominate, a group, by today’s standards, she’s the more normal.
The story could have made more of her running away, and expanded on how she behaved during the second half of the term, as I felt these were too abrupt.
Still one of the better, less formulaic, stories though.
The story could have made more of her running away, and expanded on how she behaved during the second half of the term, as I felt these were too abrupt.
Still one of the better, less formulaic, stories though.
August 21, 2019
Not one of the.best
July 4, 2021
This really makes my blood boil. So sorry for being ordinary and working class
September 12, 2021
I really enjoyed this one - a fabulous plot twist!
Read
April 2, 2022Classism is very weird.
November 30, 2025
One of the really good Swiss instalments. Jack Maynard gets an actual speaking part. Joey butts out and lets Miss Annersley do what she’s best at. Two excellent new girls. It’s a cracker.
July 17, 2020
I alternate between finding the premise of this book (Rosamund is good because although poor she has "standards"; Joan is nouveau riche and has none) appallingly snobby and saying, "oh well, it's a product of EBD's own class and time." On the whole, I come down in favour of the latter.
In the past, this has been one of my least favourite Chalet titles, but I liked it more on this re-read. Rosamund is a sweet little heroine, and (surprisingly, because she annoys me) I enjoyed the scenes with Joey. The descriptions of Basle read like a guidebook, there is altogether too much tennis, and I did wonder why the arrival of Simone's son should get quite so much airtime, but on the whole this was an enjoyable comfort read.
In the past, this has been one of my least favourite Chalet titles, but I liked it more on this re-read. Rosamund is a sweet little heroine, and (surprisingly, because she annoys me) I enjoyed the scenes with Joey. The descriptions of Basle read like a guidebook, there is altogether too much tennis, and I did wonder why the arrival of Simone's son should get quite so much airtime, but on the whole this was an enjoyable comfort read.
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