Tom and Some Other Girls: A Public School Story

Tom #1

by Mrs. George de Horne Vaizey, Percy Tarrant (Illustrator)

Tom and Some Other Girls: A Public School Story
First serialized in in January, 1901.

by Mrs. George de Horne Vaizey (1857 - 1917)

Impetuous, self-centered Rhoda goes to boarding school and learns hard lessons. This is a story of recklessness and forgiveness.
(Summary by JudiMason)

Genres: School Stories, Classics

279 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1901

About the author

The author of 33 books, as well as numerous short stories and magazine articles, British author Mrs. George de Horne Vaizey was born Jessie Bell in 1856, in Liverpool. She was the daughter of Scots insurance broker David Bell, and his wife, Elizabeth Morris Barton, and had six siblings. She married cotton broker Henry Mansergh in 1883, and a number of her books were originally published under the name "Jessie Mansergh." After the death of Henry Mansergh in 1894, her work began to be published in magazines.

Vaizey was married again in 1898, to George de Horne Vaizey, a man she met while on a cruise won through a story competition. Her son George Vaizey was, born in 1900, was also to become a writer. Contracting typhoid in the early years of the 20th-century, she developed rheumatoid arthritis, and was confined to a wheelchair until her death in 1917.

Reviews

[Helen · Rating 2 out of 5]

For me, "Tom and some other girls" falls somewhere in-between Brazil and later writers like Brent-Dyer and Blyton. There's definitely an air of 'soppiness' - that is, romanticism and emotionalism - to the book, which certainly reminds one of Brazil, but Rhoda, the main character (and that eternal GO character, a Bad Girl in need of reform through the magic of boarding school) lacks the charm of any of Brazil's heroines. Her 'badness' - mostly pride selfishness and an over-inflated sense of her own importance with a dash of selfishness - never seems that truly bad, and yet it takes two horrible events to work her reformation. But at the same time her good points (because all Bad Girls need good points, or how are we supposed to want them to reform?) never really materialised.

This is definitely a moral tale - which is not a spoiler, as it's obvious from the first that the lesson we are to learn is that money can't buy you respect, true friendship, or even common sense - but if you really want something in that vein I'd recommend that rather more charming An Old-Fashioned Girl by Louise M. Alcott.

If you're a Girls Own completionist, "Tom and some other girls" is worth a read as part of the history of girls' school stories, and because it unusually focuses on an older girl (Rhoda is 16 when she goes away to school for the first time). But it's not a book I'd be tempted to reread in a hurry.

[Kirsti · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title is a bit strange, because the book isn't really about Tom, and I can't imagine why her name is the one there. I could see the ending early on, although snatches of it were a surprise. I just felt disappointed in everything I suppose. The moral of this story is hard work for no motive fails, and I just hated reading it. Why would hard work not be rewarded, regardless of the intent behind it? We see how Rhoda struggles, and ultimately fails, and never gets to try again it seems. It just seems monstrously unfair; just because she isn't poor, and wants to be good at things, she fails? Eh, not my favorite school story book, but still an alright read. Three stars!

[Lucy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this to discover how the author influenced the work of Elinor Brent-Dyer, specifically her Chalet School series, and from that point of view it was interesting - otherwise it's just a school story like hundreds of others, I shan't rush to read any more of her work.