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The Luckiest Girl in the School
A story for juveniles about a girl who, facing a sudden reversal in family fortunes, goes to school as a scholarship student and wins an enviable position for herself.
248 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1916
About the author
Angela Brazil
119 books36 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Born in Preston, Lancashire in 1868, Angela Brazil (pronounced "brazzle") was the youngest child of cotton mill manager Clarence Brazil, and his wife, Angelica McKinnel. She was educated at the Turrets - a small private school in Wallasey - and then, when the Brazils were living in Manchester, at the preparatory department of the Manchester High School, and (as a boarder) at Ellerslie, an exclusive girls’ school near Victoria Park. She subsequently attended Heatherley's Art School, in London, with her sister Amy, and sketching remained a life-long interest.
With the death of Clarence Brazil in 1899, the family left the North-West of England for Llanbedr, Wales, where they took up residence in their former summer house. It is believed that, at some point during this period (1899-1911), Brazil worked as a governess, although she does not mention it in her autobiography, My Own Schooldays (1925). In 1911, she moved to Coventry, where she kept house for her doctor brother, living in that city until her death, in 1947.
Brazil's first children's novel, A Terrible Tomboy, was published in 1904, and is believed to have been autobiographical, featuring the adventures of a young Angela (Peggy), and her friend Leila Langdale (Lilian). It was only with the 1907 publication of her second novel, The Fortunes of Philippa, that she turned to the genre in which she would become so influential: the Girls' School Story.
Brazil is often described by readers as "the first author of modern girls' school stories," and her publisher Blackie once claimed, in a bit of promotional hyperbole, that she had originated the genre! While not actually true - the genre predates her by some time, and other authors of modern girls school stories, such as May Baldwin, were publishing before she was - Brazil was certainly immensely influential, in the genre's move away from a didactic, moralistic model, towards one aimed more at entertainment. Her books are told from the perspective of her girl characters themselves, and were immensely popular with young readers, both in her own lifetime, and afterward. All told, she published close to sixty children's novels, most of them girls' school stories.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Born in Preston, Lancashire in 1868, Angela Brazil (pronounced "brazzle") was the youngest child of cotton mill manager Clarence Brazil, and his wife, Angelica McKinnel. She was educated at the Turrets - a small private school in Wallasey - and then, when the Brazils were living in Manchester, at the preparatory department of the Manchester High School, and (as a boarder) at Ellerslie, an exclusive girls’ school near Victoria Park. She subsequently attended Heatherley's Art School, in London, with her sister Amy, and sketching remained a life-long interest.
With the death of Clarence Brazil in 1899, the family left the North-West of England for Llanbedr, Wales, where they took up residence in their former summer house. It is believed that, at some point during this period (1899-1911), Brazil worked as a governess, although she does not mention it in her autobiography, My Own Schooldays (1925). In 1911, she moved to Coventry, where she kept house for her doctor brother, living in that city until her death, in 1947.
Brazil's first children's novel, A Terrible Tomboy, was published in 1904, and is believed to have been autobiographical, featuring the adventures of a young Angela (Peggy), and her friend Leila Langdale (Lilian). It was only with the 1907 publication of her second novel, The Fortunes of Philippa, that she turned to the genre in which she would become so influential: the Girls' School Story.
Brazil is often described by readers as "the first author of modern girls' school stories," and her publisher Blackie once claimed, in a bit of promotional hyperbole, that she had originated the genre! While not actually true - the genre predates her by some time, and other authors of modern girls school stories, such as May Baldwin, were publishing before she was - Brazil was certainly immensely influential, in the genre's move away from a didactic, moralistic model, towards one aimed more at entertainment. Her books are told from the perspective of her girl characters themselves, and were immensely popular with young readers, both in her own lifetime, and afterward. All told, she published close to sixty children's novels, most of them girls' school stories.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
April 11, 2021
Winona Woodward lives at home with her widowed mother and her siblings but with the war on, times were difficult and her mother could ill afford to keep the house going.
So Mrs Woodward arranges for Winona to go and stay with her Aunt Harriet who arranges for her to take the scholarship examination for Seaton High School. She fears that she might flunk the examination but her knowledge of Edgar Allan Poe and Lady Jane Grey help her to win a scholarship and she duly attends Seaton High.
There she joins the Debating Club, the Patriotic Knitting Guild and the Dramatic Society and Literary Association and meets girls such as Garnet Emerson, Hilda Langley, Marjorie Kaye, Olave Parry and Joyce Newton. At first the girls find it difficult to accept Winona as she is a scholarship girl but once they get to know her, they all become the best of friends.
They get up to all sorts of high jinks, organise a symposium, play hockey and cricket and go for country walks. But Winona's school work was initially not up to scratch and the headmistress threatened to move her from form VA to form VB, where the not so good pupils languished. Fortunately Winona improved, 'I'll show them how I can work,' she declared.
And she improved to such a degree that she became a most valued member of the school and eventually aspired to be the Head Girl for games and sport. She trained the juniors, while playing hockey and cricket herself, and coached the school swimmers. She was runner up in the swimming gala and also in the athletics meeting and she finally led her cricket team to victory over arch-rivals Binworth. This made her a true heroine of the school.
Along the way she gets her brother Percy out of some trouble over Aunt Harriet's will, helps to nurse him back to health after a war injury and assists at the Red Cross Hospital. Indeed she is a capital girl all round and as the novel ends all the juniors join together in one unanimous chorus, 'Three cheers for our Games Captain! Hip-hip-hooray!'
Angela Brazil presents us with a light-hearted look at a world now long gone, which transports us back in time and makes for most enjoyable reading.
So Mrs Woodward arranges for Winona to go and stay with her Aunt Harriet who arranges for her to take the scholarship examination for Seaton High School. She fears that she might flunk the examination but her knowledge of Edgar Allan Poe and Lady Jane Grey help her to win a scholarship and she duly attends Seaton High.
There she joins the Debating Club, the Patriotic Knitting Guild and the Dramatic Society and Literary Association and meets girls such as Garnet Emerson, Hilda Langley, Marjorie Kaye, Olave Parry and Joyce Newton. At first the girls find it difficult to accept Winona as she is a scholarship girl but once they get to know her, they all become the best of friends.
They get up to all sorts of high jinks, organise a symposium, play hockey and cricket and go for country walks. But Winona's school work was initially not up to scratch and the headmistress threatened to move her from form VA to form VB, where the not so good pupils languished. Fortunately Winona improved, 'I'll show them how I can work,' she declared.
And she improved to such a degree that she became a most valued member of the school and eventually aspired to be the Head Girl for games and sport. She trained the juniors, while playing hockey and cricket herself, and coached the school swimmers. She was runner up in the swimming gala and also in the athletics meeting and she finally led her cricket team to victory over arch-rivals Binworth. This made her a true heroine of the school.
Along the way she gets her brother Percy out of some trouble over Aunt Harriet's will, helps to nurse him back to health after a war injury and assists at the Red Cross Hospital. Indeed she is a capital girl all round and as the novel ends all the juniors join together in one unanimous chorus, 'Three cheers for our Games Captain! Hip-hip-hooray!'
Angela Brazil presents us with a light-hearted look at a world now long gone, which transports us back in time and makes for most enjoyable reading.
July 27, 2017
I still can’t resist a good school story. I hadn’t read anything of Brazil’s before, and so I was intrigued to see how The Luckiest Girl in the School would compare to my favourite school stories – the St. Clare’s and Malory Towers series by Enid Blyton. The book is incredibly well written, and doesn’t dumb itself down to a child or teenage audience, which I think goes in its favour. The characters are all rather sweet. Unlike in Enid Blyton’s school stories, there is nobody who really stands out that much, but in the grand scheme of things, I don’t think it matters particularly here. I loved the ‘jolly hockey sticks’ atmosphere woven throughout – all the nature rambles and the school spirit, for example. There was a little too much focus upon games and hockey for my liking, however, so for that reason I don’t feel too bothered about carrying on with the series. Still, a very enjoyable story, and one which lends itself well to be read in the summer.
March 27, 2015
It's a shame that I didn't like Winona better. There's nothing really all that wrong with her. She's pleasant, loyal, generally eager to do well, and flawed in realistic ways. I suppose I just didn't connect with her for some reason, and it's nothing I can really blame her for. It might be because I so disliked her family, especially her brother, and it rubbed off on her a bit. I suppose I understand why she kept his secret, but he's sort of awful, lazy and self-absorbed. Her mother isn't that much better, weak willed and content to have no control in her own home. It's lucky for Winona that she has an aunt with much more backbone to her.
The school in this book felt like a particularly nice one to go to. There's little in the way of hard feelings between the girls, and they all seem quite eager to do well for themselves and their schools. Because the story is concentrated largely on Winona's academics, or lack thereof, and her family issues, I sometimes felt like the other girls at school were given fewer pages than I would like, especially Winona's friend Garnet.
Most delightful name of the book: Garnet, but only because all her sisters are also named after gemstones.
The school in this book felt like a particularly nice one to go to. There's little in the way of hard feelings between the girls, and they all seem quite eager to do well for themselves and their schools. Because the story is concentrated largely on Winona's academics, or lack thereof, and her family issues, I sometimes felt like the other girls at school were given fewer pages than I would like, especially Winona's friend Garnet.
Most delightful name of the book: Garnet, but only because all her sisters are also named after gemstones.
August 28, 2022
Thus would have been much more interesting if there was less concentration on games and more on character development.
July 11, 2012
Classic Angela Brazil. Winona, who has won a scholarship she really didn't deserve struggles academically, but decides to make it up to the school through throwing her heart and soul into hockey and cricket. She bears terrible guilt, though, for a dreadful thing her brothers does and made her promise not to tell... Another likable flawed heroine, and her maiden aunt is a really touching figure. A bit too much "Rah, Rah, yay for underage boys going to the trenches!" for my taste, but I guess that goes with the period. I wasn't too fond of the heroine's passive-aggressive and useless but still apparently sainted mother, either. Except for the original setup, there's not much unique in this one, but there's a lot of energy and fun to it. And like a lot of Brazils, there's a touching special friendship at its heart.
I just wish there had been a proper resolution!
I just wish there had been a proper resolution!
July 6, 2014
From a Terrible Tom Boy to The School on the Loch, Angela Brazil covered virtually every aspect of life as a teenage girl - friendships, hijinks, teachers, parents and romance. She is the Godmother of the boarding school book and almost single handedly invented a genre that was to become incredibly popular in the 1920's and 30's.
The Luckiest Girl in School is one of the best examples of her work and absolutely hilarious, cleverly done and creates a delicious world of late night shenanigans, tricking teachers and good old fashioned fun.
The Luckiest Girl in School is one of the best examples of her work and absolutely hilarious, cleverly done and creates a delicious world of late night shenanigans, tricking teachers and good old fashioned fun.
March 30, 2020
My first impressions of Angela Brazil are what a fine writer she was and how well her novels have stood the test of time. 'The Luckiest Girl in the School' is one of her earlier works, published in 1916 and set during World War I. The plot is straightforward and sensitively handled, the writing stylish and graceful and there's an overall warmth to the storytelling that makes this an absolute pleasure to read.
I'm looking forward to discovering more of her work.
I'm looking forward to discovering more of her work.
January 1, 2013
Another Five star book, and the first one of the New Year too! I really liked the characters in this one, especially Winona and Garnet. I have to say how fantastic it is once again to have all these books for free on my kindle. Angela Brazil is an author I would most likely have never found if I'd never bought a kindle, so I'm glad I did! If you like rollicking school days past, then this is the book for you!
January 30, 2012
it's rubbish.
August 13, 2014
Angela Brazil has something of a reputation for including "sentimental tosh" in her books, and while I enjoy her stories I have found it to be justified. But The Luckiest Girl in the School has none of that; the female friendships, admiration for older girls and family relationships are all very natural (with only one or two Brazil-ian touches towards the end). Perhaps, set as the book is during war-time, Brazil felt the need to be comparatively stiff upper lip-ish, but whatever the reason it certainly works in her favour.
Plot-wise, this is a very ordinary school story - that of a new girl who has to learn to fit in, wants to do great things to make a name for her school, finds herself in and out of trouble but ultimately becomes the ideal schoolgirl. While it might not be the most memorable of Brazil's stories, there are some nice touches to the story - Winona's complicated relationships with her brother and her great-aunt and the girls' passion for building up the reputation of their relatively new school - which do make it stand out from others.
Plot-wise, this is a very ordinary school story - that of a new girl who has to learn to fit in, wants to do great things to make a name for her school, finds herself in and out of trouble but ultimately becomes the ideal schoolgirl. While it might not be the most memorable of Brazil's stories, there are some nice touches to the story - Winona's complicated relationships with her brother and her great-aunt and the girls' passion for building up the reputation of their relatively new school - which do make it stand out from others.
August 1, 2016
I had never heard of Angela Brazil until reading The Murder Room where one of the peripheral characters is said to be a collector of her books. Being an inveterate reader of school stories I thought it would be interesting to read a couple of her books, so this is the first one.
Overall, a relatively harmless book which was easy to read but not particularly memorable.
Overall, a relatively harmless book which was easy to read but not particularly memorable.
August 10, 2014
I love these old gems from Angela Brazil. Queen of the girl's boarding school book from WWI through the 1920's and 30's. The Luckiest Girl in the School is one of the peachiest of the lot. Real Jolly hockey sticks stuff and with all the classic capers of a boarding school - tricks on mean teachers, midnight feasts etc.
September 6, 2013
some parts deserved higher than 3* but others not. decidedly dull at time and very predicable almost as though the author has read a dozen school girl bookd written a formula and stuck to it. it just didnt hit the mark for me.
March 21, 2010
Winona Woodward is really quite average, but by a stroke of luck, she wins a scholarship to high school. Rather simple, but i enjoyed it.
July 24, 2012
I only wish that I had gotten this much out of my schooldays...
January 16, 2019
I read this book as part of a reading group challenge, and after the scathing comments on Angela Brazil's books by other members of the group, I was not expecting to enjoy it. However, I was pleasantly surprised. This is a charming story with sympathetic characters, and the development of Winona's character was sensitively handled. I am glad I read it.
October 8, 2024
Great book, I listened to the audiobook version on YouTube. I will leave the link below so that everyone can enjoy it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfNyf...
July 5, 2015
As the eldest daughter in a large family, Winona knows she must do what she can to help out her widowed mother. When offered a chance to attend high school, she leaps at the opportunity, even though it means living with Great-Aunt Harriet, and only going home for the holidays. Unfortunately she discovers that schoolwork is not her forte, and that she is sadly behind in some subjects. But games, on the other hand, that is where she shines. Not just in playing, but also in coaching.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews