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Chalet School - Complete
The Chalet School Annexe
When ten-year-old Robin Humphries is deemed too delicate to return to the Chalet School on the shores of the Tiernsee (despite its well-deserved reputation for making the health of its pupils the highest priority), the solution is obvious: open an Annexe on the Sonnalpe, close to the famous Sanatorium, to accommodate those girls who would benefit from closer medical supervision. A number of the younger and frailer members of the Chalet School are transferred to the new branch, along with a dozen or so new pupils. Three Old Girls—Juliet Carrick, Grizel Cochrane and
Gertrude Steinbrücke—are brought in as Staff, and the term looks set to be an exciting time for all. Not all of the girls are happy at being removed from the bustle of the main School, and tensions between the ‘old hands’ and the new girls run high; but they all soon learn that life on the mountain has its own excitements as well as rewards.
"The Chalet School Annexe" is set in the same term as "The Exploits of the Chalet Girls".
Gertrude Steinbrücke—are brought in as Staff, and the term looks set to be an exciting time for all. Not all of the girls are happy at being removed from the bustle of the main School, and tensions between the ‘old hands’ and the new girls run high; but they all soon learn that life on the mountain has its own excitements as well as rewards.
"The Chalet School Annexe" is set in the same term as "The Exploits of the Chalet Girls".
- GenresSchool Stories
256 pages, Paperback
Published November 27, 2018
28 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 24, 2026
This story by Adrianne Fitzpatrick is one of the many “fill-in” novels to EBD’s Chalet School series. It takes place in the Autumn Term, same time as “The Exploits of the Chalet Girls” and before the “The Chalet School and the Lintons”.
While EBD often refers to the Annexe, little is known about how the Annexe is run on a daily basis. In the story, Old Girls Juliet Carrick and Grizel Cochrane are tasked with running a school for those Chalet School girls who are too ill to be in the regular school. Located up at the San, with access to excellent medical care and reduced class loads, these girls are able to continue their education at a pace that syncs with their recovery. The Robin plays a large part in getting things ready for the school to open, with a few dozen students or so. As the new students arrive, half of them are transfers from the Chalet School, while the other half are brand new girls who know nothing of the Chalet School ethos. This leads to trouble with the girls, as they quickly separate into factions, new vs. old, exacerbated by the feeling the new girls have of being on the outside. Robin is one of the three prefects, though barely 12, and she tries to unite the two groups. Robin comes up with some ideas to help and has to navigate a situation with a difficult student who continually causes trouble for another girl. It isn’t until the Christmas Pageant, when Annexe and Chalet School are finally united. All in all, a great story in the Chalet Series canon.
There is both an excellent foreword and afterword, with comprehensive information about the characters and how Adrianne chose to write the story. Don’t miss!
While EBD often refers to the Annexe, little is known about how the Annexe is run on a daily basis. In the story, Old Girls Juliet Carrick and Grizel Cochrane are tasked with running a school for those Chalet School girls who are too ill to be in the regular school. Located up at the San, with access to excellent medical care and reduced class loads, these girls are able to continue their education at a pace that syncs with their recovery. The Robin plays a large part in getting things ready for the school to open, with a few dozen students or so. As the new students arrive, half of them are transfers from the Chalet School, while the other half are brand new girls who know nothing of the Chalet School ethos. This leads to trouble with the girls, as they quickly separate into factions, new vs. old, exacerbated by the feeling the new girls have of being on the outside. Robin is one of the three prefects, though barely 12, and she tries to unite the two groups. Robin comes up with some ideas to help and has to navigate a situation with a difficult student who continually causes trouble for another girl. It isn’t until the Christmas Pageant, when Annexe and Chalet School are finally united. All in all, a great story in the Chalet Series canon.
There is both an excellent foreword and afterword, with comprehensive information about the characters and how Adrianne chose to write the story. Don’t miss!
December 30, 2019
Starts out promisingly, as Fitzpatrick takes us up the Sonnalpe and into the Annexe - a branch of the Chalet School established near the Sanatorium to cater for more delicate children. It promises the return of Madge Russell, deeper insights into the character of Robin Humphries, and a chance to see Old Girls Juliet Carrick and Grizel Cochrane again - at the start of their respective teaching careers.
The book doesn't really go anywhere with all of these narrative threads, however. Madge is almost a non-entity. Robin is given peculiar power as a prefect - and ends up behaving like a 40-year-old at the tender age of ten. She keeps trying to solve problems amongst her school chums, her solution to the first of which (the divide felt between Chalet girls and new students with no prior ties to the school) literally goes nowhere. It's nice to see Juliet again, though it's a bit annoying to have Grizel's bitterness form the core of yet another storyline that goes nowhere.
Fitzpatrick does a good job with the research, as always, filling in the gaps in EBD's logic and continuity as best as she can. But proceedings still tend to feel manufactured rather than organic - an issue that particularly plagues fill-ins that cover the events of a term already written about by EBD.
The book doesn't really go anywhere with all of these narrative threads, however. Madge is almost a non-entity. Robin is given peculiar power as a prefect - and ends up behaving like a 40-year-old at the tender age of ten. She keeps trying to solve problems amongst her school chums, her solution to the first of which (the divide felt between Chalet girls and new students with no prior ties to the school) literally goes nowhere. It's nice to see Juliet again, though it's a bit annoying to have Grizel's bitterness form the core of yet another storyline that goes nowhere.
Fitzpatrick does a good job with the research, as always, filling in the gaps in EBD's logic and continuity as best as she can. But proceedings still tend to feel manufactured rather than organic - an issue that particularly plagues fill-ins that cover the events of a term already written about by EBD.
May 13, 2019
Really enjoyed this, it was a nice, sweet story. Not much happens but that's ok. Actually, for most of the book I though that the main narrative conflict was going to be augmented by the tension with Grizel which is scattered throughout most of the book - yet never gets resolved in any way, which was a bit weird. It seemed like it was supposed to be going somewhere but no, apparently it was just Grizel Being Nasty For No Reason. This is a thing I've noticed in a few fill-ins, the use of Grizel as a sort of conflict vending machine - if we need to make a character feel bad, tah-dah, here's Grizel to do it! That definitely seemed to be her role in this and it was disappointing. But on the whole I really enjoyed this one. The tensions between the Chalet girls and the new girls were interesting and felt very real - and we do the EBD thing of the bully being treated better than the victim which is tedious but, well, real for the series!
December 29, 2018
Another fill-in book, covering the opening term of the Annexe, on the Sonnalpe, for delicate girls. Naturally the Robin will go there, along with her friends Amy and Laurenz. Since most of the students will be under twelve, Robin, Amy, and one older girl, Signa, are appointed prefects. The first problem Robin notices is the split between new girls and those who had been at the main Chalet School. Although she has an idea on how to help, and discusses her idea with Jo when she visits, nothing seems to come of it. During her visit, Jo tells the girls a wonderful fairy story, which the Juniors adopt as a playtime activity. This story fits in well with the original series. In addition, since the main characters are younger, it may also attract younger readers to discover this series. Recommended.
February 5, 2019
This is a superb book, well written by an author with a Definite Elinor M. Brent-Dyer flare. The characters are well written and believable, and the story kept me reading. I could almost imagine I was in the Sonalpe and the imagery is outstanding. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.
April 23, 2021
Smoothly fits into the series.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews