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A Blindefellows Chronicle
At midday on the last day of August, Sedgewick, the new history master, arrives at Blindefellows, former charity school for poor, blind boys, now a second division private school for anyone who can pay. The naive newcomer is quickly taken under the wing of the rumbustious, philandering Japes, master of physics, who soon becomes something of a mentor, though not in an academic sense. A Blindefellows Chronicle follows the adventures of Sedgewick, Japes and a handful of other unmarried faculty at an obscure West Country boarding school including the closeted headmaster, Reverend Hareton, stalwart Matron Ridgeway and loathsome librarian, Fairchild.
'A sprightly, inventive novel, rich in amusing characters and situations. I enjoyed every word of it.'
Tony Connor, Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
'A sprightly, inventive novel, rich in amusing characters and situations. I enjoyed every word of it.'
Tony Connor, Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
- GenresShort StoriesFiction
333 pages, Paperback
First published July 20, 2017
About the author
Auriel Roe
7 books62 followersAuriel Roe is an author and artist who spent the earlier part of her career teaching literature, drama and art in secondary schools in England and abroad. One of her short stories was shortlisted for a major UK writing competition. Her debut novel 'A Blindefellows Chronicle' was #1 for humour in Amazon US, Canada and UK. It has been saved by over 2,000 readers on Goodreads. Her memoir focuses on her fractured adolescence, her slew of unsuitable suitors and her total ineptness at any kind of gainful employment, 'A Young Lady's Miscellany', is is now available.
Auriel's second novel, 'Let The Swine Go Forth' follows the misadventures of a group of teachers in a new international school out in the desert of a totalitarian state. It is due to be republished with Dogberry Books in 2021.
Trivia: Auriel Roe is the fourth cousin of Margaret Atwood and direct descendant of Pendal "witch" Alice Nutter.
Auriel's second novel, 'Let The Swine Go Forth' follows the misadventures of a group of teachers in a new international school out in the desert of a totalitarian state. It is due to be republished with Dogberry Books in 2021.
Trivia: Auriel Roe is the fourth cousin of Margaret Atwood and direct descendant of Pendal "witch" Alice Nutter.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
December 3, 2017
I would like to thank the author for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.
I am giving the book a rating of 4.5
This debut novel by Auriel Roe tells the story of Blindefellows – a former charity school for poor and blind boys that has been converted to a “second division private school for anyone who can pay.” There are thirteen stories in the book and as the name suggests – these stories chronicle the evolution of the school and the characters over a period of time. The school is in UK.
When you hear of a book about a boarding school, you usually think of the escapades of daring, naughty and eccentric children. But, in this book the focus is on the teachers. However, this does not mean that the students don’t get any limelight.
In the first story we are introduced to some of the main characters. One of amongst them is Charles Sedgewick – the twenty-six year old history master, who is accompanied by his parents when he joins the school. Observing him is one of my favourite characters, Japes, who decides to “mentor” the naïve history master. Oh! Japes is an ex-soldier turned physics master – a savvy man who can sell sand to the Arabs, is quite a philanderer but he is also a good man at heart – a teacher whom the boys consider as one of their own and a man who is ready to help others.
There are plenty of other characters in the book – some recurring while some come and go. Some are good-hearted, some are eccentric while some are outright loathsome.
When I read that the author has been inspired by PG Wodehouse I was expecting some Wodehousian comedy – absurd, ridiculous but so much fun. The book does have that element but it is much more than that. The stories have a warm and cozy feeling them – they can uplift your mood and can also make you sad. There are some profound moments in this book.
You shall see the characters coming to terms with their inner demons, revive their old passions, fight for a cause, go out to seek new opportunities and ultimately evolve as human beings. Everything is not hunky dory in the world of Blindefellows – there are prejudices, spite, jealousy and what not. But, such is life.
I liked the way how the school would embrace change with the changing times. Blindefellows would learn to be more sensitive about their students’ comfort, a lady nurse would be employed despite resistance, slowly lady teachers would come, the school would become more inclusive, break down age old class divides and finally it would turn co-ed. I could go on and on but I shall desist.
This debut book does not read like one – it comes across as the work of an experienced writer. I loved the writing and had a great time savouring the stories. The paperback edition has around 260 pages and you can read it pretty quickly or you can relish them over a period of it.
I wish the author had included a bit more detailed backstory around Japes and some of the other characters.
I would strongly recommend this book to readers who enjoy such cozy stories with some elements of poignancy.
I am giving the book a rating of 4.5
This debut novel by Auriel Roe tells the story of Blindefellows – a former charity school for poor and blind boys that has been converted to a “second division private school for anyone who can pay.” There are thirteen stories in the book and as the name suggests – these stories chronicle the evolution of the school and the characters over a period of time. The school is in UK.
When you hear of a book about a boarding school, you usually think of the escapades of daring, naughty and eccentric children. But, in this book the focus is on the teachers. However, this does not mean that the students don’t get any limelight.
In the first story we are introduced to some of the main characters. One of amongst them is Charles Sedgewick – the twenty-six year old history master, who is accompanied by his parents when he joins the school. Observing him is one of my favourite characters, Japes, who decides to “mentor” the naïve history master. Oh! Japes is an ex-soldier turned physics master – a savvy man who can sell sand to the Arabs, is quite a philanderer but he is also a good man at heart – a teacher whom the boys consider as one of their own and a man who is ready to help others.
There are plenty of other characters in the book – some recurring while some come and go. Some are good-hearted, some are eccentric while some are outright loathsome.
When I read that the author has been inspired by PG Wodehouse I was expecting some Wodehousian comedy – absurd, ridiculous but so much fun. The book does have that element but it is much more than that. The stories have a warm and cozy feeling them – they can uplift your mood and can also make you sad. There are some profound moments in this book.
You shall see the characters coming to terms with their inner demons, revive their old passions, fight for a cause, go out to seek new opportunities and ultimately evolve as human beings. Everything is not hunky dory in the world of Blindefellows – there are prejudices, spite, jealousy and what not. But, such is life.
I liked the way how the school would embrace change with the changing times. Blindefellows would learn to be more sensitive about their students’ comfort, a lady nurse would be employed despite resistance, slowly lady teachers would come, the school would become more inclusive, break down age old class divides and finally it would turn co-ed. I could go on and on but I shall desist.
This debut book does not read like one – it comes across as the work of an experienced writer. I loved the writing and had a great time savouring the stories. The paperback edition has around 260 pages and you can read it pretty quickly or you can relish them over a period of it.
I wish the author had included a bit more detailed backstory around Japes and some of the other characters.
I would strongly recommend this book to readers who enjoy such cozy stories with some elements of poignancy.
October 14, 2016
This was a very fine read that follows a few friends through the years, beginning and remaining mostly at the Blindefellows school and ending on a very personal note at the end.
It's rather charming, through and through. :)
I frankly found the characters a hoot and the evolving nature of the private school, its history and how it changes through the years, a character in itself. It was great to see the students rebel in order to get heat and better food. :) I loved the problem of the sheep and the eventual solution. It's also one hell of a cool tale when it comes to drawing out the feel of the times and how it affected everything in the school, from allowing women to work or later to even attend, to how the school makes its money, to the blossoming of a wonderfully restored institution. :)
This is where the other characters really get their own say, too, fully intertwined and interlinked.
It's a light tale, and just as the title says, it's a Chronicle. A passage through time. Quite delightful, cleverly written, and just plain fun. :)
Thanks goes to the author for a copy of this fine and heartwarming novel.
It's rather charming, through and through. :)
I frankly found the characters a hoot and the evolving nature of the private school, its history and how it changes through the years, a character in itself. It was great to see the students rebel in order to get heat and better food. :) I loved the problem of the sheep and the eventual solution. It's also one hell of a cool tale when it comes to drawing out the feel of the times and how it affected everything in the school, from allowing women to work or later to even attend, to how the school makes its money, to the blossoming of a wonderfully restored institution. :)
This is where the other characters really get their own say, too, fully intertwined and interlinked.
It's a light tale, and just as the title says, it's a Chronicle. A passage through time. Quite delightful, cleverly written, and just plain fun. :)
Thanks goes to the author for a copy of this fine and heartwarming novel.
November 6, 2017
A quirky, charming, diverting entertainment. Roe is an adept writer at the sentence level, and while the episodic nature of the narrative makes it challenging at times to maintain narrative tension, there is an emotional resonance that builds with the passage of time. The title "chronicle" is an apt description of the temporal progress of the narrative, and there is also, somewhat surprisingly, some wonderfully diverse settings. The conclusion is satisfying and brings a sense of emotional heft to the proceedings.
Many thanks to the author for providing a review copy of this book.
Many thanks to the author for providing a review copy of this book.
September 15, 2017
I really enjoyed this book. It's not a novel so much as a series of interconnected short stories, all based in the same (slightly bizarre and endearingly wonderful) location and the same cast (more or less; characters come and go).
One of the things I liked about the book is the way time moves on a few years with each tale, effectively giving the reader a sense of progression and character growth. These characters do grow, too. Some of them are almost unrecognisable from their old selves by the end of the book.
Most importantly, while it's mostly quite a gentle type of humour, I found it very funny. I only laughed aloud twice but I never stopped smiling and chuckling inwardly. It's also a very British humour, so Anglophiles will probably love this book.
The faculty of the titular Blindefellows School actually reminded me of nothing so much as the wizardly staff of Ankh-Morpork's Unseen University... in a good way! Comparisons with Pratchett is about as high as praise gets from me, when it comes to comedy. I look forward to reading Roe's next book.
One of the things I liked about the book is the way time moves on a few years with each tale, effectively giving the reader a sense of progression and character growth. These characters do grow, too. Some of them are almost unrecognisable from their old selves by the end of the book.
Most importantly, while it's mostly quite a gentle type of humour, I found it very funny. I only laughed aloud twice but I never stopped smiling and chuckling inwardly. It's also a very British humour, so Anglophiles will probably love this book.
The faculty of the titular Blindefellows School actually reminded me of nothing so much as the wizardly staff of Ankh-Morpork's Unseen University... in a good way! Comparisons with Pratchett is about as high as praise gets from me, when it comes to comedy. I look forward to reading Roe's next book.
September 29, 2017
I was recently sent A Blindfellows Chronicle by the author, Auriel Roe in exchange for an honest review.
This is a novel, collection of short stories, sensual expression of intimate thoughts. I was left feeling satisfied and ready for more from the author. It’s not a book I would ever generally pick up, but upon meeting the author and chatting with her I became intrigued. What could such a quirky and kind person write? Despite the somewhat dense and scattered events and writing style of A Blindfellows Chronicle this book is the kind that takes you into the author’s imagination and confuses your perception between fiction and reality. In a narrative period of thirty years Roe visits many characters, personalities, and worlds, all which seem incongruent but naturally seem to fuse together with a twist of heartfelt emotion by the last page.
A Blindfellows Chronicle revolves around the lives of a very particular society at a private school where students smoke as they wish, flirt with waitresses with little regard for the opinions of their elders, and teachers have problems which multiply, but somehow later become nuanced with time.
The story starts out on a very light note with a young man, Sedgewick, moving into a boarding school as a new teacher, with the help of his parents, of course. He’s nervous, uptight, and acts according to rules, not heart. Years pass slowly, the plot, or plots, unfold abruptly, and characters develop through the development of those about them.
With the beginning portion of the book taking place in France, only to proceed at the same time in a comic yet lackadaisical tone, my interest was more enveloped in the writing and narrative techniques the author used rather than the story itself. I’m not much of a “war” story reader, and many portions of the story contained many allusions to to battles and “soldier life.” In these moments, I found myself paying more attention to the fluidity of the author’s words and dialogue rather than what was really going on.
This is a light read that is not exactly easy to comprehend, but by the end comes together beautifully, leaving you with a long-lasting smile.
I cannot focus on any one portion of this book that I liked because each and every chapter seemed to be a separate story in and of itself but nonetheless had a reminiscent qualities of all which proceeded it. Each story was comic with unique characters, presenting the diversity of the mind according to the lives which befall one another. I was especially charmed by the young boys in the boarding school: rebellious but also resourceful in their pursuit of food and better living conditions.
There is really no protagonist or antagonist here. Each character battles their own demons and overcomes different sorts of obstacles, completely separating on personality from another. Lives, events, and years are woven together but initially seem obscure and without a purpose. This is really one of those reads where you have to pause and reflect on how one event is crucial to the fall of another. Sure, this is a somewhat simple read, but also rather tricky as there is not clear conflict or plot. The years pass as the characters come and go, and develop by the effects they experience from conflicts.
The characters appear and reappear across the chapters – all which lead back to similar, but not the same story. Everything is very nuanced and just delightful to traverse. Roe’s writing is warm and without quickness, which I really loved. Her descriptions of the boarding school and the young boys is vivid and real. I felt like I was watching from behind a lens into a different reality. The characters, conflicted and troublesome in the early chapters of the book are completely transformed and some even seem to be completely different individuals. This book really shows what the effect that time has on the choices, thoughts, and emotions of a person. The way we live, what we go through, and how we cope with the passage of the years changes who we are no matter what. We have little say in the matter because it is almost as grounded permanent as destiny itself. The author demonstrated this clearly not through wordy and overly complicated word choice but through humorous analogues and simply entertaining.illustrations of life as it is, in all its drama, love, and grief. All the characters, at one time or another in this thirty-year period must come to terms with what the passage of time means for them and their relationships with themselves and the rest of the world.
A Blindfellows Chronicle is one of the most original and sweeping books I’ve read in a long, long time. It was not necessarily a page-turner that kept me completely absorbed – there were definitely times when I found myself skipping a few pages without feeling entirely lost. It’s simple but sometimes simplicity is the best means of creating art. It’s long but feels short. It’s dense but feels light. It’s separated yet integrated. It’s been a pleasure to read and review this book for the author and I now look forward to a great much more of Roe’s entrancing imagination.
This is a novel, collection of short stories, sensual expression of intimate thoughts. I was left feeling satisfied and ready for more from the author. It’s not a book I would ever generally pick up, but upon meeting the author and chatting with her I became intrigued. What could such a quirky and kind person write? Despite the somewhat dense and scattered events and writing style of A Blindfellows Chronicle this book is the kind that takes you into the author’s imagination and confuses your perception between fiction and reality. In a narrative period of thirty years Roe visits many characters, personalities, and worlds, all which seem incongruent but naturally seem to fuse together with a twist of heartfelt emotion by the last page.
A Blindfellows Chronicle revolves around the lives of a very particular society at a private school where students smoke as they wish, flirt with waitresses with little regard for the opinions of their elders, and teachers have problems which multiply, but somehow later become nuanced with time.
The story starts out on a very light note with a young man, Sedgewick, moving into a boarding school as a new teacher, with the help of his parents, of course. He’s nervous, uptight, and acts according to rules, not heart. Years pass slowly, the plot, or plots, unfold abruptly, and characters develop through the development of those about them.
With the beginning portion of the book taking place in France, only to proceed at the same time in a comic yet lackadaisical tone, my interest was more enveloped in the writing and narrative techniques the author used rather than the story itself. I’m not much of a “war” story reader, and many portions of the story contained many allusions to to battles and “soldier life.” In these moments, I found myself paying more attention to the fluidity of the author’s words and dialogue rather than what was really going on.
This is a light read that is not exactly easy to comprehend, but by the end comes together beautifully, leaving you with a long-lasting smile.
I cannot focus on any one portion of this book that I liked because each and every chapter seemed to be a separate story in and of itself but nonetheless had a reminiscent qualities of all which proceeded it. Each story was comic with unique characters, presenting the diversity of the mind according to the lives which befall one another. I was especially charmed by the young boys in the boarding school: rebellious but also resourceful in their pursuit of food and better living conditions.
There is really no protagonist or antagonist here. Each character battles their own demons and overcomes different sorts of obstacles, completely separating on personality from another. Lives, events, and years are woven together but initially seem obscure and without a purpose. This is really one of those reads where you have to pause and reflect on how one event is crucial to the fall of another. Sure, this is a somewhat simple read, but also rather tricky as there is not clear conflict or plot. The years pass as the characters come and go, and develop by the effects they experience from conflicts.
The characters appear and reappear across the chapters – all which lead back to similar, but not the same story. Everything is very nuanced and just delightful to traverse. Roe’s writing is warm and without quickness, which I really loved. Her descriptions of the boarding school and the young boys is vivid and real. I felt like I was watching from behind a lens into a different reality. The characters, conflicted and troublesome in the early chapters of the book are completely transformed and some even seem to be completely different individuals. This book really shows what the effect that time has on the choices, thoughts, and emotions of a person. The way we live, what we go through, and how we cope with the passage of the years changes who we are no matter what. We have little say in the matter because it is almost as grounded permanent as destiny itself. The author demonstrated this clearly not through wordy and overly complicated word choice but through humorous analogues and simply entertaining.illustrations of life as it is, in all its drama, love, and grief. All the characters, at one time or another in this thirty-year period must come to terms with what the passage of time means for them and their relationships with themselves and the rest of the world.
A Blindfellows Chronicle is one of the most original and sweeping books I’ve read in a long, long time. It was not necessarily a page-turner that kept me completely absorbed – there were definitely times when I found myself skipping a few pages without feeling entirely lost. It’s simple but sometimes simplicity is the best means of creating art. It’s long but feels short. It’s dense but feels light. It’s separated yet integrated. It’s been a pleasure to read and review this book for the author and I now look forward to a great much more of Roe’s entrancing imagination.
September 10, 2017
The best means by which to recommend this whimisically comical, yet also sometimes deeply poignant novel is, I think, to let it speak for itself. Here then is a typical wry gem that unfolds beside a sheep milking machine: "'I'm not exactly sure what I'm doing, to be honest, Matron,' Sedgewick said as he fumbled with the the ewe's undercarriage, 'The suction tube just doesn't seem to fit'.
'Ah, Charles', Matron Ridgeway said, spotting the problem directly, 'That's because you've got a young ram there.'
It's not only the well turned lined that so impresses in this book though, but also its rather musical structure. It genuinely is a chronicle, in which each chapter can stand alone as a satisfying comic short story, yet taken together the stories add up to something more, a touching portrait of the changing relationships between the four central characters from the prime of their lives into old age.
I am a terribly finicky reader yet I feel that it is not going too far to say that 'A Blindefellows Chronicle' is more than just "a good read"; it is sufficiently artful and unusual that it deserves, and will, I hope, achieve a place in the canon of English comic fiction.
'Ah, Charles', Matron Ridgeway said, spotting the problem directly, 'That's because you've got a young ram there.'
It's not only the well turned lined that so impresses in this book though, but also its rather musical structure. It genuinely is a chronicle, in which each chapter can stand alone as a satisfying comic short story, yet taken together the stories add up to something more, a touching portrait of the changing relationships between the four central characters from the prime of their lives into old age.
I am a terribly finicky reader yet I feel that it is not going too far to say that 'A Blindefellows Chronicle' is more than just "a good read"; it is sufficiently artful and unusual that it deserves, and will, I hope, achieve a place in the canon of English comic fiction.
August 17, 2017
Overall: This is a likable, highly readable collection of related short stories about a quirky boarding school. The stories are presented chronological, and the author does a nice job of reflecting the times. It’s not a page-turner, just a fine, enjoyable read.
Writing: I felt the writing was quite good. The descriptions of people and place were detailed and well done. The dialogue was crisp and believable. The prose never got in the way of the story.
Plot: There’s nothing ground breaking here. Each short story has its own plot, and I felt some of them could have been a little tighter, but overall they moved well and kept my interest. As the book builds, the various stories become entwined—this was very well done.
Characters: The characters were well fleshed out, funny and quirky. At times, I feared they were veering towards stereotypical, but they had enough depth to avoid that trap. It took me a while to care deeply for the characters, but in the end, I did.
Overall: A charming period piece. If you’re not into fast moving, plot driven stories, this is a good choice.
Writing: I felt the writing was quite good. The descriptions of people and place were detailed and well done. The dialogue was crisp and believable. The prose never got in the way of the story.
Plot: There’s nothing ground breaking here. Each short story has its own plot, and I felt some of them could have been a little tighter, but overall they moved well and kept my interest. As the book builds, the various stories become entwined—this was very well done.
Characters: The characters were well fleshed out, funny and quirky. At times, I feared they were veering towards stereotypical, but they had enough depth to avoid that trap. It took me a while to care deeply for the characters, but in the end, I did.
Overall: A charming period piece. If you’re not into fast moving, plot driven stories, this is a good choice.
November 16, 2017
Auriel Roe’s episodic novel is perhaps old-fashioned in the nicest possible way. Imagine a kinder, less cynical rendition of the school in Waugh’s “Decline and Fall”. Imagine Stalky & Co’s school moving with the times. In some ways reading A Blindefellows Chronicle is a sort of Goodbye, Mr Japes. None of these is any bad thing.
As a former boarder, albeit at one of the last state grammar schools, in an equally small and isolated school, I recognised many things in this book. This is a tribute to Auriel Roe’s imagination, research or experience, and most certainly to her writing skill.
The chronicled-style, skipping on a few years at a time, made me invest a great deal of emotion in the characters, good and bad. I was always trying to second guess what would happen in the next chapter. It also brought home to me how much England has changed in my lifetime.
But best of all, “Blindefellows” (the book is destined to be referred to by aficionados in this way, surely?) is funny. Wryly, sharply and dryly – funny, all the way to an end which has that much-maligned quality “pathos”.
I recommend this book very highly and hope to read more from the author sometime soon.
As a former boarder, albeit at one of the last state grammar schools, in an equally small and isolated school, I recognised many things in this book. This is a tribute to Auriel Roe’s imagination, research or experience, and most certainly to her writing skill.
The chronicled-style, skipping on a few years at a time, made me invest a great deal of emotion in the characters, good and bad. I was always trying to second guess what would happen in the next chapter. It also brought home to me how much England has changed in my lifetime.
But best of all, “Blindefellows” (the book is destined to be referred to by aficionados in this way, surely?) is funny. Wryly, sharply and dryly – funny, all the way to an end which has that much-maligned quality “pathos”.
I recommend this book very highly and hope to read more from the author sometime soon.
February 26, 2018
I was given a copy of this book through Netgalley for an honest review.
I won't even mince words here, I absolutely adored this book. I fell in love immediately from the first story and could not stop reading. I wish it had been longer! I wish more years had been covered! I wish we knew what happened with the creamery and the sheep, what became of the alumni, how other teachers fared... it was such an intimate look into a lovely place, a school, that accumulates within it the best and worst of humanity. I haven't felt so delighted, touched, and happy in a long, long time.
I recommend this to the moon and back.
I won't even mince words here, I absolutely adored this book. I fell in love immediately from the first story and could not stop reading. I wish it had been longer! I wish more years had been covered! I wish we knew what happened with the creamery and the sheep, what became of the alumni, how other teachers fared... it was such an intimate look into a lovely place, a school, that accumulates within it the best and worst of humanity. I haven't felt so delighted, touched, and happy in a long, long time.
I recommend this to the moon and back.
September 20, 2017
A delightful book with characters who jump off the page and into your lap. Wonderful, energetic, quirky and laugh-out-loud. Auriel Roe is a clever and imaginative writer who puts her reader in the middle of the fuss at a West Country private boarding school. Here, flocks of sheep are held hostage in the library and the new uptight history teacher, Sedgewick is taken under wing by the hedonistic physics teacher: Japes. Reminiscent of P.G. Wodehouse, Evelyn Waugh and Stella Gibbons 'Cold Comfort Farm'. A must read.
September 29, 2017
Blindefellows, established several hundred years ago as a charity school for blind boys, is now a school for those who can afford it. The boys (and, later, girls as well) who study in it are an interesting lot (who don’t, for instance, think twice about herding the school’s resident herd of sheep into the library and holding them—along with a history teacher, the mild-mannered and somewhat nervous Sedgewick—captive in order to have their demands met).
But more interesting than the students are the teachers at Blindefellows. Sedgewick himself, completely immersed in history. Japes, who takes Sedgewick under his wing and tries to get him to take as avid an interest in women as Japes does. Bunny and Clive and Crane. Matron Ridgeway, who inadvertently storms a male bastion—and emerges triumphant. Gosling, who tries to save a neighbouring wood by climbing a tree and ends up a celebrity.
A Blindefellows Chronicle stretches over forty years, beginning in 1974 and ending in 2014. The stories that comprise this book aren’t strictly in a form that make it a novel, even though the settings and the characters are the same, or at least connected. Instead, rather like Lawrence Durrell’s Antrobus Complete, these are vignettes with a common thread running through them. A rebellion is staged. A group of students is taken to France on an educational trip. A Maori rugby teacher comes to Blindefellows as part of an exchange programme. The school receives an unexpected bequest from a cantankerous ex-teacher.
I got this book as part of a giveaway from Auriel Roe, who mentioned that it was inspired by Wodehouse. Which, of course, interested me: Wodehouse is one of my favourite writers, and one I admire immensely. But no, A Blindefellows Chronicle isn’t quite Wodehouse. There is the occasional resemblance—especially in the characters, many of whom are immediately recognizable as having shades of Wodehouse’s characters, like Gussie Fink-Nottle, Madeleine Bassett, Gally Threepwood, even perhaps Lord Emsworth. Some of the minor incidents and events—the international picnic, the show to mark a landmark anniversary—sound rather Wodehousian. The bulk of the book, however, is not Wodehouse. It’s far more modern, of course; it’s also more sexed up. It has a good bit of poignancy, especially near the end. I haven’t read anything by Auriel Roe before, but I’d probably guess this is more Roe than Wodehouse.
Eventually, though, this is a book that deserves to stand on its own and not try to lean on Wodehouse or his work. It’s an amusing (at times outright hilarious), interesting, fast-moving, and immensely readable book in its own right.
But more interesting than the students are the teachers at Blindefellows. Sedgewick himself, completely immersed in history. Japes, who takes Sedgewick under his wing and tries to get him to take as avid an interest in women as Japes does. Bunny and Clive and Crane. Matron Ridgeway, who inadvertently storms a male bastion—and emerges triumphant. Gosling, who tries to save a neighbouring wood by climbing a tree and ends up a celebrity.
A Blindefellows Chronicle stretches over forty years, beginning in 1974 and ending in 2014. The stories that comprise this book aren’t strictly in a form that make it a novel, even though the settings and the characters are the same, or at least connected. Instead, rather like Lawrence Durrell’s Antrobus Complete, these are vignettes with a common thread running through them. A rebellion is staged. A group of students is taken to France on an educational trip. A Maori rugby teacher comes to Blindefellows as part of an exchange programme. The school receives an unexpected bequest from a cantankerous ex-teacher.
I got this book as part of a giveaway from Auriel Roe, who mentioned that it was inspired by Wodehouse. Which, of course, interested me: Wodehouse is one of my favourite writers, and one I admire immensely. But no, A Blindefellows Chronicle isn’t quite Wodehouse. There is the occasional resemblance—especially in the characters, many of whom are immediately recognizable as having shades of Wodehouse’s characters, like Gussie Fink-Nottle, Madeleine Bassett, Gally Threepwood, even perhaps Lord Emsworth. Some of the minor incidents and events—the international picnic, the show to mark a landmark anniversary—sound rather Wodehousian. The bulk of the book, however, is not Wodehouse. It’s far more modern, of course; it’s also more sexed up. It has a good bit of poignancy, especially near the end. I haven’t read anything by Auriel Roe before, but I’d probably guess this is more Roe than Wodehouse.
Eventually, though, this is a book that deserves to stand on its own and not try to lean on Wodehouse or his work. It’s an amusing (at times outright hilarious), interesting, fast-moving, and immensely readable book in its own right.
April 28, 2023
A Blindfellows Chronicle
by Auriel Roe
It’s not difficult to name the descriptors of Auriel Roe’s Blindfellows Chronicle: comic, clever, insightful, cute, quaint, well-mannered, friendly, compassionate. It might be a bit harder to name the book’s place.
I say it in praise. Roe titled the book as a chronicle and chronicle it is: of the escapades and odd skirmishes of Blindfellows, “a former charity school for poor blind boys, now a second-division private school for anyone who could pay.” It resembles a novel, also a short story collection, also a fictive memoir and satire. But I’d like to call it a genre beyond, a 40-year comic chronology in the life of a school, from Michaelmas 1974 to spring of 2014, as enacted by its cast of eccentric teachers.
This is not to call it haphazard. Roe keeps the attention loose on her characters at the personal level so that the focus can remain upon the institution-wide capers of all. We follow characters from hot-shot young teachers to placid retirees in the space of 260 pages, with enough strange fancies along the way to entertain any reading.
Along the way Roe also proves adept at managing the verisimilitude of genteel academic life and keeps the invention lively. I wish I had been to this school. I wish I written this book.
by Auriel Roe
It’s not difficult to name the descriptors of Auriel Roe’s Blindfellows Chronicle: comic, clever, insightful, cute, quaint, well-mannered, friendly, compassionate. It might be a bit harder to name the book’s place.
I say it in praise. Roe titled the book as a chronicle and chronicle it is: of the escapades and odd skirmishes of Blindfellows, “a former charity school for poor blind boys, now a second-division private school for anyone who could pay.” It resembles a novel, also a short story collection, also a fictive memoir and satire. But I’d like to call it a genre beyond, a 40-year comic chronology in the life of a school, from Michaelmas 1974 to spring of 2014, as enacted by its cast of eccentric teachers.
This is not to call it haphazard. Roe keeps the attention loose on her characters at the personal level so that the focus can remain upon the institution-wide capers of all. We follow characters from hot-shot young teachers to placid retirees in the space of 260 pages, with enough strange fancies along the way to entertain any reading.
Along the way Roe also proves adept at managing the verisimilitude of genteel academic life and keeps the invention lively. I wish I had been to this school. I wish I written this book.
July 31, 2017
This book follows the lives of a bunch of teachers, staff (and occasionally pupils) at a boarding school in England that's struggling to come to terms with modern life - political correctness, pupil rights, pop music, etc.
At times hilarious, poignant and brilliantly insightful, I heartily recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good yarn. Superb debut; I'll be keeping an eye out for her work in future.
At times hilarious, poignant and brilliantly insightful, I heartily recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good yarn. Superb debut; I'll be keeping an eye out for her work in future.
October 9, 2020
A wonderful discovery: a recent publication with the style and substance of a comic novel of decades ago. Set in a private school in England, focusing on the teachers not the pupils, at first it reminded me of the Molesworth series by Geoffrey Willans, because it was so authentically parochial and whimsical. The novel's character matures with its characters. By the second quarter, it reminded me of P.G. Wodehouse; and by the middle Evelyn Waugh. The structure is unusual, a cross between a novel and a collection of short stories. Each chapter is a discrete story over a period of days, separated from other chapters by years. The characters cross chapters and age dramatically, but each chapter tends to focus on one character or one peculiar event in a repeat character. The characters are strong. My favorite is also the main character: Japes. He effectively starts and ends the book. He bounds in with an appealing jauntiness, with witty cutting remarks and no fear, but also no pretensions and no lack of self-awareness, about his own ambiguous choices (such as serial philandering with no intent to marry). Without giving too much away, the book ends with Japes' ending, and it is emotional. My empathy was tempered by my relief on finishing a book with a realistic and definitive ending, instead of a cop-out or a failure in imagination. The book takes a turn in its maturity in chapter 10, which focuses on a minor character, a teacher, who experiences an uncontrolled collapse of family life, told with sparseness and naturalism, and realistically shared blame, reminiscent of an Evelyn Waugh novel such as A Handful of Dust. The son turns out to have no interest in school or work or parental expectations, and is expelled after casually hacking the school and defaming other characters. The wife mourns the son's departure, then fixates on a new rugby coach. All along, the teacher suspects the trajectory, but is more of a passenger than an influencer. It all ends badly for him, and yet he's partially to blame, partially not to blame. It's remarkably authentic. And thence eventually we come to the final chapter. Real events rarely appear in the overall book's time span from the 1970s to the 2010s. This adds to the sense of insularity in the private school, but as in real Britain localism succumbs to internationalism, and parochialism proves unsustainable. In the penultimate chapter we are taken to Egypt, where Japes has taken himself for retirement, with typical dash, but takes a head wound during the revolution in 2011, and eventually is forced back to Britain, demented and curbed. In the final chapter, we find the main characters together in a care home: pathos abounds, parochialism is personified in flights of fancy and strange pets and strange routines. Then we end with Japes, and the pathos peaks, unshirked and agreeably meaningful, in the sense that a young person should read this book, in order to appreciate the great arc every life follows, with the same finality, which should prompt the young to live with a longer horizon than the young care to admit.
December 6, 2017
A brilliantly witty, quirky and charismatic tome written by an equally fantastic author. Unputdownable! Immersive and immensely enjoyable. I too became a blindefellow in the duration of this book and can't wait to be transported to another world in this funny and wonderful author's next adventure!
September 19, 2017
Just a few chapters in but so refreshing & funny, feel like I'm there. Looking forward to reading on.
September 19, 2017
A charmingly witty tale with brilliant characterisation and many, both touching and amusing, stories to impart.
Altogether a thoroughly enjoyable read.
Altogether a thoroughly enjoyable read.
September 9, 2020
I really liked Blindefellows — a generous serving of Olde Engeland, a complete carvery mounted with pneumatic Yorkshire pudding and salty brown gravy.
I’m fond of Wodehouse and Waugh and MacDonald Fraser, so this was a natural fit. Some of the stories reminded me of my mercifully brief stint at an English public school, without the caning and humiliation. I laughed out loud at the oozing duck juices; the skull design resembling a happy hamburger; the mouth hanging open like a chicken with the grapes; Matron Marion’s effect on men’s brains; the “garibaldi line” at Watkins Biscuits — which lands with such a thump it makes me laugh even now; the scourge that is the excrement of the domestic dust mite (and it’s metropolis); the amusing names of people and cheeses; the vivid characters, and what characters; “I’ve just trumped and followed through” — fabulous.
I know about the Wild Weasel and de Havilland Vampire, the ticking, the counterpane, the periwigs, the government cheddar, so it felt like familiar territory. I was half expecting to see a reference to Brooke Bond tea cards. But I also learned quite a bit, which is always a pleasure. Monkwood… who knew? Wade Whimsies… so that’s what those little figurines are called. Shagreen!
The allusions are many and varied, the vocabulary expansive. The stories have a range and scope that vaults from high comedy to darker fascist references; a mix of tickles and stings — Fraulein von Ravensbruck, a concentration camp, mentioned in the same line as Oswald Mosley, a plank-to-the-head moment. I find so much of modern fiction to be limited and claustrophobic. Not Roe's.
Favourite stories: The seizing of the library with the supporting flock of sheep; the creamery; the Turkish student who ends up teaching the teacher; Matron Marion and her sexual vortex; the French holiday. There are poignant moments too, like when the eternally likeable teacher Japes starts loosing his japes to dementia, or the aging, ever-so-correct Sedgewick getting steamrollered by his infatuation with the buxom Hungarian.
Call me a fan. Audio book version needed. On to Roe's second tome: Let the Swine go Forth.
I’m fond of Wodehouse and Waugh and MacDonald Fraser, so this was a natural fit. Some of the stories reminded me of my mercifully brief stint at an English public school, without the caning and humiliation. I laughed out loud at the oozing duck juices; the skull design resembling a happy hamburger; the mouth hanging open like a chicken with the grapes; Matron Marion’s effect on men’s brains; the “garibaldi line” at Watkins Biscuits — which lands with such a thump it makes me laugh even now; the scourge that is the excrement of the domestic dust mite (and it’s metropolis); the amusing names of people and cheeses; the vivid characters, and what characters; “I’ve just trumped and followed through” — fabulous.
I know about the Wild Weasel and de Havilland Vampire, the ticking, the counterpane, the periwigs, the government cheddar, so it felt like familiar territory. I was half expecting to see a reference to Brooke Bond tea cards. But I also learned quite a bit, which is always a pleasure. Monkwood… who knew? Wade Whimsies… so that’s what those little figurines are called. Shagreen!
The allusions are many and varied, the vocabulary expansive. The stories have a range and scope that vaults from high comedy to darker fascist references; a mix of tickles and stings — Fraulein von Ravensbruck, a concentration camp, mentioned in the same line as Oswald Mosley, a plank-to-the-head moment. I find so much of modern fiction to be limited and claustrophobic. Not Roe's.
Favourite stories: The seizing of the library with the supporting flock of sheep; the creamery; the Turkish student who ends up teaching the teacher; Matron Marion and her sexual vortex; the French holiday. There are poignant moments too, like when the eternally likeable teacher Japes starts loosing his japes to dementia, or the aging, ever-so-correct Sedgewick getting steamrollered by his infatuation with the buxom Hungarian.
Call me a fan. Audio book version needed. On to Roe's second tome: Let the Swine go Forth.
March 2, 2018
A Blindefellows Chronicle begins in 1974 with the arrival of a new history master, Charles Sedgewick. He is joining a venerable old institution - Blindefellows School was formed in 1584 as a charitable institution for blind boys before converting to a public school in the 1900s. By the 1970s, it is something of an anachronism, a male-only environment which is struggling to attract pupils particularly in the rise of modern comprehensives.
The book follows the changes that occur in Blindefellows over the next thirty years and takes the form of separate short stories that are linked by the school setting and the staff that work in it. So it is that we follow the adventures of the rather staid but honourable Sedgewick, his mentor, great friend and inveterate philanderer, Japes, Bunny Hareton, the headmaster and Marion Ridgeway who creates quite a furore as the first woman permitted into the hallowed Oak Room.
A library siege, cheese-making, an environmental protest, school plays, accidental proposals, petty feuds and sweet little victories ensue in this charming book. Although obviously set in a different era, it reminded me a little of Goodbye, Mr Chips as it depicts the changes that occur in a minor public school during Sedgewick's time teaching there. Sedgewick isn't the novel's sole main character however, and in some of the escapades plays a far lesser role. The passage of time also means there are some surprisingly moving, poignant moments but it never becomes maudlin and the humour is retained throughout. There's something delightfully Wodehousian about A Blindefellows Chronicle, with its unlikely comic situations and eccentric cast of characters. There may not be a pig but there are the Blindefellows sheep - the unfortunately piano-toothed West Country Pygmy Bearded Blacks who have roamed the grounds for generations.
A Blindefellows Chronicle is an assured debut, it is a gently subversive, affectionate and witty book, that will appeal to anybody raised on boarding school stories, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The book follows the changes that occur in Blindefellows over the next thirty years and takes the form of separate short stories that are linked by the school setting and the staff that work in it. So it is that we follow the adventures of the rather staid but honourable Sedgewick, his mentor, great friend and inveterate philanderer, Japes, Bunny Hareton, the headmaster and Marion Ridgeway who creates quite a furore as the first woman permitted into the hallowed Oak Room.
A library siege, cheese-making, an environmental protest, school plays, accidental proposals, petty feuds and sweet little victories ensue in this charming book. Although obviously set in a different era, it reminded me a little of Goodbye, Mr Chips as it depicts the changes that occur in a minor public school during Sedgewick's time teaching there. Sedgewick isn't the novel's sole main character however, and in some of the escapades plays a far lesser role. The passage of time also means there are some surprisingly moving, poignant moments but it never becomes maudlin and the humour is retained throughout. There's something delightfully Wodehousian about A Blindefellows Chronicle, with its unlikely comic situations and eccentric cast of characters. There may not be a pig but there are the Blindefellows sheep - the unfortunately piano-toothed West Country Pygmy Bearded Blacks who have roamed the grounds for generations.
A Blindefellows Chronicle is an assured debut, it is a gently subversive, affectionate and witty book, that will appeal to anybody raised on boarding school stories, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
November 22, 2017
This delightful collection of interconnected stories follows the lives, loves, triumphs and tragedies of the teachers of Blindefellows School beginning in the mid 1970s through to 2014. Gems include the seismic shift when the first Matron is added to the staff, the reticent bachelor who finds himself engaged after enjoying a particularly fine roast beef dinner, the brilliant plan to save the school's flock of buck-toothed sheep and the declining years of many of the teachers as they find themselves resident of the same seniors residence. There are all types of characters both sympathetic and unpleasant. Although set in contemporary times there is an old-fashioned appeal to these tales that I really enjoyed.
February 21, 2018
The British Boarding School is an unique subculture, with its own customs, traditions, joys and absurdities. For anyone who ever went through that institution, this book is a delight. Auriel Roe weaves together 13 interconnected stories that span 40 years of the school, as it struggles to adjust to changing times. She does it with a nice blend of humor and poignancy, skewering the foibles of both teachers and pupils. Rather like the school I attended, there is a sense of controlled farce about life at Blindfellows. It's witty and insightful, evoking pleasant memories of the way PG Wodehouse or Evelyn Waugh handled their school experience. There's a smile or two every page. I gobbled it down, but you could snack at it over a week or a month. Recommended.
February 27, 2018
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This is a really good debut that I found to be a really well written combination of stories. I as intrigued by the book as soon as I read the blurb for the book.
The plot is very well planned out and I loved how the characters link through the book with the different short stories. I found the book to be very entertaining in a quirky way and it is definitely one I'm going to be recommending.
4.5 stars from me for this one, rounded up to 5 stars for Amazon and Goodreads - it is very enjoyable and a debut with a difference!
This is a really good debut that I found to be a really well written combination of stories. I as intrigued by the book as soon as I read the blurb for the book.
The plot is very well planned out and I loved how the characters link through the book with the different short stories. I found the book to be very entertaining in a quirky way and it is definitely one I'm going to be recommending.
4.5 stars from me for this one, rounded up to 5 stars for Amazon and Goodreads - it is very enjoyable and a debut with a difference!
October 2, 2017
What a great book! Funny from the start and beautifully observed. Great characters (every school should have a Japes). The book straddles a gap somewhere between P G Wodehouse and Tom Sharpe with a little Simon Brett thrown in for good measure. I loved it. More please!
October 29, 2017
This collection of short stories is both witty and heartfelt. Extremely well-written with great character development, I can't wait to see what the author comes up with next.
November 2, 2017
Great book. Completely unputdownable.
November 5, 2017
Very fun series of short stories that are both comical and interesting.
Overall a great read and very much looking forward to future books from this writer!
Overall a great read and very much looking forward to future books from this writer!
November 10, 2017
Wonderful
I've often wondered how to tell an educator's story. Now I know. An enriching story of a school and the very human and very endearing people who work and live there.
I've often wondered how to tell an educator's story. Now I know. An enriching story of a school and the very human and very endearing people who work and live there.
March 1, 2018
This was a wonderful witty story with many surprises in the book!
October 7, 2017
Review by Keith Daffurn submitted by Narelle
Well written, with good descriptions of characters and their shenanigans!
Not having visited England, but having been fascinated from an early age by the stories and films that included mention of its Public Schools, I soon recognised that English Public Schools were different from similarly named institutions in Australia. My mother had been born in “The Old Country”, so I had acquired some knowledge of that place at an early age.
The book is fascinating for many reasons, one of which is the choice of unusual names for the characters. The characters themselves, though not extensive in number, have been attributed with an array of personalities and existences that kept me interested. The fact that the story spanned almost the lifetime of the main characters was interesting in itself. The travels of some of the characters brought an insight into the geography and lifestyles of those destinations during those periods.
Altogether a good read.
Keith Daffurn
Well written, with good descriptions of characters and their shenanigans!
Not having visited England, but having been fascinated from an early age by the stories and films that included mention of its Public Schools, I soon recognised that English Public Schools were different from similarly named institutions in Australia. My mother had been born in “The Old Country”, so I had acquired some knowledge of that place at an early age.
The book is fascinating for many reasons, one of which is the choice of unusual names for the characters. The characters themselves, though not extensive in number, have been attributed with an array of personalities and existences that kept me interested. The fact that the story spanned almost the lifetime of the main characters was interesting in itself. The travels of some of the characters brought an insight into the geography and lifestyles of those destinations during those periods.
Altogether a good read.
Keith Daffurn
August 6, 2021
Having read A Young Lady's Miscellany by the same author and having thoroughly enjoyed it, I was thrilled to see that Auriel Roe, its author, had also written a novel and quickly made sure that I added it to my birthday list.
I devoured it as soon as it arrived.
A Blindefellows Chronicle charts a series of incidents that take place at Blindefellows school, listed chronologically, hence the title, and spanning many years of the school's existence starting in 1974 and leading up to contemporary times. We follow many characters but the narrative is centred primarily on Sedgewick, who arrives at the school at the very start of the book and Japes, one of the existing Masters when Sedgewick arrives, who takes the newcomer under his wing. Japes is a bit of a likeable rogue whereas Sedgewick is a mummy's boy and a little green but over time, they become good friends and colleagues.
The incidents that make up the book revolve around different episodes in the school's history and are as varied as internationally themed picnics to sheep being held hostage to stopping the razing of a wood and at times centre on the behaviours of the schoolmasters themselves and sometimes those of their wives.
There is something about Auriel Roe's writing style which I really like. Her books are easy to read and have a quintessential British humour permeating it from start to finish which is a bit saucy at times and peppered with observational wit. As with her memoirs, there are moments from this book that will stay with me beyond my reading of it and having finished it, I feel sad which is, paradoxically, a good feeling to have at the end of a book - you are sad it has ended but you have the goodness and warmth that comes from having read something highly enjoyable.
I don't think that there is anything that I didn't like about this book. I like the characters, the friendships, the storytelling, the plots of each incident and the way that they evolve; I especially liked the ending which brings the narrative full circle back to Sedgewick and Japes and a poignancy that left me simultaneously sad but filled with the goodness of humanity.
This is just my sort of book and I would recommend it heartily to anyone. I can only hope that she writes more!
I devoured it as soon as it arrived.
A Blindefellows Chronicle charts a series of incidents that take place at Blindefellows school, listed chronologically, hence the title, and spanning many years of the school's existence starting in 1974 and leading up to contemporary times. We follow many characters but the narrative is centred primarily on Sedgewick, who arrives at the school at the very start of the book and Japes, one of the existing Masters when Sedgewick arrives, who takes the newcomer under his wing. Japes is a bit of a likeable rogue whereas Sedgewick is a mummy's boy and a little green but over time, they become good friends and colleagues.
The incidents that make up the book revolve around different episodes in the school's history and are as varied as internationally themed picnics to sheep being held hostage to stopping the razing of a wood and at times centre on the behaviours of the schoolmasters themselves and sometimes those of their wives.
There is something about Auriel Roe's writing style which I really like. Her books are easy to read and have a quintessential British humour permeating it from start to finish which is a bit saucy at times and peppered with observational wit. As with her memoirs, there are moments from this book that will stay with me beyond my reading of it and having finished it, I feel sad which is, paradoxically, a good feeling to have at the end of a book - you are sad it has ended but you have the goodness and warmth that comes from having read something highly enjoyable.
I don't think that there is anything that I didn't like about this book. I like the characters, the friendships, the storytelling, the plots of each incident and the way that they evolve; I especially liked the ending which brings the narrative full circle back to Sedgewick and Japes and a poignancy that left me simultaneously sad but filled with the goodness of humanity.
This is just my sort of book and I would recommend it heartily to anyone. I can only hope that she writes more!
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