What do you think?
Rate this book
The Chalet School #8
The Chalet Girls in Camp
High up in the Austrian mountains, on the shore of the beautiful Baumersee, the Chalet School girls are spending two weeks in camp. There's plenty of work to be done and lots of fun to be had. There are adventures too, like the day Joey disappears - and the terrible discovery in the lake.
222 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1930
1 person is currently reading
176 people want to read
About the author
Elinor M. Brent-Dyer
171 books113 followersElinor M. Brent-Dyer was born as Gladys Eleanor May Dyer on 6th April 1894, in South Shields in the industrial northeast of England, and grew up in a terraced house which had no garden or inside toilet. She was the only daughter of Eleanor Watson Rutherford and Charles Morris Brent Dyer. Her father, who had been married before, left home when she was three years old. In 1912, her brother Henzell died at age 17 of cerebro-spinal fever. After her father died, her mother remarried in 1913.
Elinor was educated at a small local private school in South Shields and returned there to teach when she was eighteen after spending two years at the City of Leeds Training College. Her teaching career spanned 36 years, during which she taught in a wide variety of state and private schools in the northeast, in Middlesex, Bedfordshire, Hampshire, and finally in Hereford.
In the early 1920s she adopted the name Elinor Mary Brent-Dyer. A holiday she spent in the Austrian Tyrol at Pertisau-am-Achensee gave her the inspiration for the first location in the Chalet School series. However, her first book, 'Gerry Goes to School', was published in 1922 and was written for the child actress Hazel Bainbridge. Her first 'Chalet' story, 'The School at the Chalet', was originally published in 1925.
In 1930, the same year that 'Jean of Storms' was serialised, she converted to Roman Catholicism.
In 1933 the Brent-Dyer household (she lived with her mother and stepfather until her mother's death in 1957) moved to Hereford. She travelled daily to Peterchurch as a governess.
When her stepfather died she started her own school in Hereford, The Margaret Roper School. It was non-denominational but with a strong religious tradition. Many Chalet School customs were followed, the girls even wore a similar uniform made in the Chalet School's colours of brown and flame. Elinor was rather untidy, erratic and flamboyant and not really suited to being a headmistress. After her school closed in 1948 she devoted most of her time to writing.
Elinor's mother died in 1957 and in 1964 she moved to Redhill, where she lived in a joint establishment with fellow school story author Phyllis Matthewman and her husband, until her death on 20th September 1969.
During her lifetime Elinor M. Brent-Dyer published 101 books but she is remembered mainly for her Chalet School series. The series numbers 58 books and is the longest-surviving series of girls' school-stories ever known, having been continuously in print for more than 70 years. One hundred thousand paperback copies are still being sold each year.
Among her published books are other school stories; family, historical, adventure and animal stories; a cookery book, and four educational geography-readers. She also wrote plays and numerous unpublished poems and was a keen musician.
In 1994, the year of the centenary of her Elinor Brent-Dyer's birth, Friends of the Chalet School put up plaques in Pertisau, South Shields and Hereford, and a headstone was erected on her grave in Redstone Cemetery, since there was not one previously. They also put flowers on her grave on the anniversaries of her birth and death and on other special occasions.
Elinor was educated at a small local private school in South Shields and returned there to teach when she was eighteen after spending two years at the City of Leeds Training College. Her teaching career spanned 36 years, during which she taught in a wide variety of state and private schools in the northeast, in Middlesex, Bedfordshire, Hampshire, and finally in Hereford.
In the early 1920s she adopted the name Elinor Mary Brent-Dyer. A holiday she spent in the Austrian Tyrol at Pertisau-am-Achensee gave her the inspiration for the first location in the Chalet School series. However, her first book, 'Gerry Goes to School', was published in 1922 and was written for the child actress Hazel Bainbridge. Her first 'Chalet' story, 'The School at the Chalet', was originally published in 1925.
In 1930, the same year that 'Jean of Storms' was serialised, she converted to Roman Catholicism.
In 1933 the Brent-Dyer household (she lived with her mother and stepfather until her mother's death in 1957) moved to Hereford. She travelled daily to Peterchurch as a governess.
When her stepfather died she started her own school in Hereford, The Margaret Roper School. It was non-denominational but with a strong religious tradition. Many Chalet School customs were followed, the girls even wore a similar uniform made in the Chalet School's colours of brown and flame. Elinor was rather untidy, erratic and flamboyant and not really suited to being a headmistress. After her school closed in 1948 she devoted most of her time to writing.
Elinor's mother died in 1957 and in 1964 she moved to Redhill, where she lived in a joint establishment with fellow school story author Phyllis Matthewman and her husband, until her death on 20th September 1969.
During her lifetime Elinor M. Brent-Dyer published 101 books but she is remembered mainly for her Chalet School series. The series numbers 58 books and is the longest-surviving series of girls' school-stories ever known, having been continuously in print for more than 70 years. One hundred thousand paperback copies are still being sold each year.
Among her published books are other school stories; family, historical, adventure and animal stories; a cookery book, and four educational geography-readers. She also wrote plays and numerous unpublished poems and was a keen musician.
In 1994, the year of the centenary of her Elinor Brent-Dyer's birth, Friends of the Chalet School put up plaques in Pertisau, South Shields and Hereford, and a headstone was erected on her grave in Redstone Cemetery, since there was not one previously. They also put flowers on her grave on the anniversaries of her birth and death and on other special occasions.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
May 7, 2013
If there was anything that Brent-Dyer was particularly good at, it was shifting tone. She had a skill whereby the farcical could be transferred to the heartbreaking, often within moments on the same page. Whether it was from the Robin singing one of her Raising-Lazarus-esque songs or to Joey hiding behind a curtain in Penny Rest, Brent-Dyer was not afraid of wholeheartedly making her point.
The Chalet Girls In Camp is one of those points. It is fat and round and glorious, glowing with the smile that still echoes in my mind from the toddlers I saw bouncing along the road this morning with their mother. I love this book. It's one of the most evocative ones she ever wrote, set during a period where the Chalet Girls decamp (badumtish) from the shores of the lovely Tiernsee and head up to the hills to camp in the equally lovely Baumersee.
As it's still so very early in the series, Brent-Dyer is on fire. She is painterly at points, drawing her landscape with conviction and with passion. There's moments from this book that live with me forever; the 'JUST KISS' moment where Simone whips up a sexy little omelette for her beloved, the moment where Rufus is awesome, and the part where Cornelia goes wood gathering.
It's books like this that build a series, that pull you to them like moths to a flame. It's books like this that left me convinced of the cannibalistic nature of Pikes, of the need to loosen guy ropes in the rain, and of the need to not, er, annoy the local insect life.
And it's books like this that leave me in love with Brent-Dyer and leave me desperate, so very desperate, to go and sing songs around a campfire in the middle of Austria.
The Chalet Girls In Camp is one of those points. It is fat and round and glorious, glowing with the smile that still echoes in my mind from the toddlers I saw bouncing along the road this morning with their mother. I love this book. It's one of the most evocative ones she ever wrote, set during a period where the Chalet Girls decamp (badumtish) from the shores of the lovely Tiernsee and head up to the hills to camp in the equally lovely Baumersee.
As it's still so very early in the series, Brent-Dyer is on fire. She is painterly at points, drawing her landscape with conviction and with passion. There's moments from this book that live with me forever; the 'JUST KISS' moment where Simone whips up a sexy little omelette for her beloved, the moment where Rufus is awesome, and the part where Cornelia goes wood gathering.
It's books like this that build a series, that pull you to them like moths to a flame. It's books like this that left me convinced of the cannibalistic nature of Pikes, of the need to loosen guy ropes in the rain, and of the need to not, er, annoy the local insect life.
And it's books like this that leave me in love with Brent-Dyer and leave me desperate, so very desperate, to go and sing songs around a campfire in the middle of Austria.
September 28, 2023
I think that Brent-Dyer had a lot of fun here - there’s a more carefree and mischievous spirit moving through the pages. And it’s a refreshing change from the repetitive cliffhangers in many of the previous books.
I also enjoy the way that she includes cultural references to books which obviously influenced or impressed her - in this one, it’s ‘The Carved Cartoon,’ about the seventeenth-century sculptor and wood-carver Grinling Gibbons, which was published in 1873.
Definitely one of the best of the series, to date.
I also enjoy the way that she includes cultural references to books which obviously influenced or impressed her - in this one, it’s ‘The Carved Cartoon,’ about the seventeenth-century sculptor and wood-carver Grinling Gibbons, which was published in 1873.
Definitely one of the best of the series, to date.
December 17, 2018
Somehow, my limited experience of being a Guide was never as much fun as EBD makes it seem. By which I mean, we never camped for weeks on end next to a beautiful Tyrolean lake, discovered historical artifacts at the bottom of a pit which had been dug a century earlier for reasons not adequately explained, or fished up a dead body (or not) before breakfast.
This book is fairly uneventful by Chalet School standards. No one spends days or weeks on the brink of death, no one is kidnapped, and no one undergoes a significant personality change. Instead, as the title suggests, the older CS Guides (plus Juliet and Grizel), three staff members, and Rufus the dog spend most of the book living under canvas, between the woods and the shore of the Baumersee. That's not to say that it's boring - the above-mentioned artifacts and fishing adventure, plus some hornet-related excitement, keep the story ticking along nicely.
Finally, yes, as other readers have pointed out, it was written in the 30s, and oh, gosh, what a surprise: characters occasionally express viewpoints which are more consistent with that time than with the 21st century. "Bill"'s speech and the subsequent conversation about the role of woman as housewife and helpmeet is very much of its time - the marriage bar was in effect then, and the Chalet School girls were broadly of the middle and upper classes. If they were going to enter employment, they would be likely to have the sorts of occupations which were impacted by the marriage bar. (Seriously, though. If you're that offended by 1930s viewpoints, don't read unedited versions of books published in the 1930s. It's not rocket science.)
This book is fairly uneventful by Chalet School standards. No one spends days or weeks on the brink of death, no one is kidnapped, and no one undergoes a significant personality change. Instead, as the title suggests, the older CS Guides (plus Juliet and Grizel), three staff members, and Rufus the dog spend most of the book living under canvas, between the woods and the shore of the Baumersee. That's not to say that it's boring - the above-mentioned artifacts and fishing adventure, plus some hornet-related excitement, keep the story ticking along nicely.
Finally, yes, as other readers have pointed out, it was written in the 30s, and oh, gosh, what a surprise: characters occasionally express viewpoints which are more consistent with that time than with the 21st century. "Bill"'s speech and the subsequent conversation about the role of woman as housewife and helpmeet is very much of its time - the marriage bar was in effect then, and the Chalet School girls were broadly of the middle and upper classes. If they were going to enter employment, they would be likely to have the sorts of occupations which were impacted by the marriage bar. (Seriously, though. If you're that offended by 1930s viewpoints, don't read unedited versions of books published in the 1930s. It's not rocket science.)
March 28, 2024
A lot can happen on a camping trip!
February 5, 2008
You can REALLY tell it was written in 1930, argh.
Here's a speech from Miss Wilson (aka Bill, so frequently slashed with Charlie/Miss Stewart) on the virtues of homemaking:
"Eve's first work when she left the Garden was to be a homemaker. Of that, I am sure. It should be our first work, too. I know that many people talk a lot of nonsense about women being emancipated from such "drudgery." Believe me, girls, the woman who is above tending her husband and children or - if God does not give her those - helping other women who need such help, is a poor creature, developed on one side only. And we are not meant to be that. We are sent into the world to develop as many sides of us as possible. What would you think of a rose that produced petals on one side only? You would say that it was deformed. And woman, when she ties to ignore the human side of life, is deliberately deforming her nature."
Fuck you, Brent-Dyer, you never criticised an old Chaletian who got married and had children right out of school instead of developing her intellect and career of deforming her nature by not developing *that* side of herself, which surely the same God, if any, gave her?
Grr.
Here's a speech from Miss Wilson (aka Bill, so frequently slashed with Charlie/Miss Stewart) on the virtues of homemaking:
"Eve's first work when she left the Garden was to be a homemaker. Of that, I am sure. It should be our first work, too. I know that many people talk a lot of nonsense about women being emancipated from such "drudgery." Believe me, girls, the woman who is above tending her husband and children or - if God does not give her those - helping other women who need such help, is a poor creature, developed on one side only. And we are not meant to be that. We are sent into the world to develop as many sides of us as possible. What would you think of a rose that produced petals on one side only? You would say that it was deformed. And woman, when she ties to ignore the human side of life, is deliberately deforming her nature."
Fuck you, Brent-Dyer, you never criticised an old Chaletian who got married and had children right out of school instead of developing her intellect and career of deforming her nature by not developing *that* side of herself, which surely the same God, if any, gave her?
Grr.
March 12, 2022
Meh. Two stars because it was okay, but somehow very superficial. No hair breadth scapes this time, but Jo who supposedly was "stronger than ever" a couple of instalments ago is back on the "extremely delicate" list in this one. Whenever the authoress can't think of how to get started, Jo is peaked again. Her resident physician and brother in law's treatment is a bit odd; due to the hot weather, instead of recommending she stay quietly in the shade and drink lots of water, he prescribes a meatless diet with "plenty of plain biscuits, fruit and lemon drinks." And yet no sugar--I guess she was meant to just guzzle down lemon water. Never mind that meat is a source of iron and vitamin B, both of which would give her energy and strength. But then that same doctor has bought a new "violet ray machine" for the clinic. I looked it up, and that machine did pretty much nothing, but looked cool.
"The Robin" is still under the care of the nursery nurse, who still helps her dress--at age 11! Delicate she may also be, but hardly a toddler, and certainly not disabled. Elisaveta's royal father still refers to Robin as "the baby" as well. But Brent-Dyer loved her invalids; Eustacia is still hanging around in an invalid chair and not being allowed to sit up.
The camp story was rather bland, no one even nearly drowned. The camp Captain's remedy for anything from earache to a fright seems to be "have a nip of brandy and take a nap." I did wonder how they managed to use safety pins to secure the tents to the ground during an invasion of hornets! The only real adventures were sapped in the telling. I didn't even laugh this time. The girls are written so as to be pretty thoroughly interchangeable, and all they seem to do is gather firewood, eat and wash dishes.
"The Robin" is still under the care of the nursery nurse, who still helps her dress--at age 11! Delicate she may also be, but hardly a toddler, and certainly not disabled. Elisaveta's royal father still refers to Robin as "the baby" as well. But Brent-Dyer loved her invalids; Eustacia is still hanging around in an invalid chair and not being allowed to sit up.
The camp story was rather bland, no one even nearly drowned. The camp Captain's remedy for anything from earache to a fright seems to be "have a nip of brandy and take a nap." I did wonder how they managed to use safety pins to secure the tents to the ground during an invasion of hornets! The only real adventures were sapped in the telling. I didn't even laugh this time. The girls are written so as to be pretty thoroughly interchangeable, and all they seem to do is gather firewood, eat and wash dishes.
October 15, 2020
A short volume (uncut in the Armada edition) that takes place out of school. Some scenes at the start are at Madge and Jem's home, then we follow a number of the Chalet School girls in their camping expedition, as Guides.
There are quite a number of incidents packed into this slim volume, and in one or two places I found myself smiling as they were quite amusing. This is the first of the non-school books, and I liked it considerably better than I had recalled - but then it's probably thirty years or more since I last read it.
Inevitably old-fashioned in some of the viewpoints, but then it was first published ninety years ago. It could work as a stand-alone book, but best read in sequence with the other books in this lengthy series.
Longer review here: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/...
There are quite a number of incidents packed into this slim volume, and in one or two places I found myself smiling as they were quite amusing. This is the first of the non-school books, and I liked it considerably better than I had recalled - but then it's probably thirty years or more since I last read it.
Inevitably old-fashioned in some of the viewpoints, but then it was first published ninety years ago. It could work as a stand-alone book, but best read in sequence with the other books in this lengthy series.
Longer review here: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/...
August 22, 2024
Picked this up from the free cart at my local used bookstore. Kind of a fun read (I do tend to like stories about camp), but also had quite a few yikes moments--several slurs, a lecture on the importance of women being homemakers, and a few "adventures" that were pretty anticlimactic. Plus, since this was published in 1930 and this particular book is set in the Austrian Alps, I kept thinking, "Oh no," given what was about to start happening in Germany and Austria.
August 2, 2024
A book I'd never read in my extensive exploring of the Chalet School series - a lovely entry all focussed on a camp the school goes on on the shore of a lake. (A huge amount of organisational work is involved in this, much of which is done by the girls themselves). The usual minor dramatics occur - it's a fun entry in the series, and I liked the camp setting.
December 29, 2018
Placeholder
SA - AM
SA - AM
April 4, 2019
The first fully out of term book - great fun!
Read
January 16, 2024When one of my favourite series meets one of my favourite things.
February 4, 2015
A curious plot. My memories of Guide camp are of mornings and afternoons spent hunting for fallen wood with which to make baggage racks and wash-stands, of organised team games, of making rope ladders and bridges, The Chalet School girls go fishing, engage in a spot of flag-wagging” (semaphore?) and wash and starch their laundry. Rubbish wasn’t disposed of in a separate incinerator (what luxury!); what couldn’t be burnt on the camp cooking fire was either buried (green waste) or bagged up to take home at the end of the week!
I really was very surprised that Miss Wilson left it so late (i.e. when they’d reached their camping spot) to ask of the girls who knew how to pitch a tent! Had we eaten nothing but an omelette for lunch, I think we’d have turned into a tribe of cannibals. The Chalet School girls are, of course more genteel; maybe that excuses why so many of them are fragile of health? Thinking further along that line of thought; I may have missed it, but I don’t remember seeing any mention of lavatory facilities (we dug a series of pit latrines in a ‘quiet’ spot).
This reads like a series of gripes; which is not what I intended. Frankly I was puzzled … until I remembered the sheer number of books in this series. Perhaps EMBD was simply so productive of ideas that she rather failed to attend to the detail; or rather, looking back, given the decades of pleasure given to four generations of her readers, she didn’t actually need to attend to the detail? What other reason can there be for the Chalet School girls singing Taps, but not “Swinging Along” (in French). Unless the latter song is newer than I think?
Whatever the answer is, if EMBD ever was a Girl Guide herself, I bet she never camped with her Patrol or Company! Neither could have either of the Collins illustrator or editor of my 1992 paperback. The 1970s/1980s English Guide uniforms depicted on the front cover are a curious mixture of 1950’s Guide dress style, with Patrol emblems and Patrol Second Stripe either on the wrong breast, or absent entirely! The can of drinking chocolate and pack of lard in the foreground are labelled in English. This book was first published in 1930, and is set in Austria.
Overlooking all of that, as one does (because it’s the Chalet School), this book remains an entertaining read and re-read.
I really was very surprised that Miss Wilson left it so late (i.e. when they’d reached their camping spot) to ask of the girls who knew how to pitch a tent! Had we eaten nothing but an omelette for lunch, I think we’d have turned into a tribe of cannibals. The Chalet School girls are, of course more genteel; maybe that excuses why so many of them are fragile of health? Thinking further along that line of thought; I may have missed it, but I don’t remember seeing any mention of lavatory facilities (we dug a series of pit latrines in a ‘quiet’ spot).
This reads like a series of gripes; which is not what I intended. Frankly I was puzzled … until I remembered the sheer number of books in this series. Perhaps EMBD was simply so productive of ideas that she rather failed to attend to the detail; or rather, looking back, given the decades of pleasure given to four generations of her readers, she didn’t actually need to attend to the detail? What other reason can there be for the Chalet School girls singing Taps, but not “Swinging Along” (in French). Unless the latter song is newer than I think?
Whatever the answer is, if EMBD ever was a Girl Guide herself, I bet she never camped with her Patrol or Company! Neither could have either of the Collins illustrator or editor of my 1992 paperback. The 1970s/1980s English Guide uniforms depicted on the front cover are a curious mixture of 1950’s Guide dress style, with Patrol emblems and Patrol Second Stripe either on the wrong breast, or absent entirely! The can of drinking chocolate and pack of lard in the foreground are labelled in English. This book was first published in 1930, and is set in Austria.
Overlooking all of that, as one does (because it’s the Chalet School), this book remains an entertaining read and re-read.
August 20, 2014
I would hardly call myself outdoorsy, nor would I ever want to get into any situation that might be construed as 'camping' - and yet, I find The Chalet Girls In Camp to be an utterly engaging, appealing read, one of Elinor M. Brent-Dyer's most charming early efforts. It's all the more impressive because this is an aberration within her boarding-school series: there are no lessons to be had here, or new girls to spice up proceedings. Instead, the girls are headed to the silvery Baumersee for a two-week camp.
Once again, the novel benefits from Brent-Dyer's powers of description. She sketches out a perfectly wonderful setting for the camp: a beautiful lake ringed round by mountains, a little distance away from a village where the girls go to fetch supplies and buy sundry items like chocolate. Mixed in are accounts of everyday camp life, as wood is fetched from the forest and meals of cold chicken and fried wafers of potato (doesn't that sound delectable!) are prepared.
Of course, it wouldn't be a Chalet camp without its fair share of hijinks, and Brent-Dyer comes up with some of her most memorable incidents here: whether it's Joey Bettany disappearing into a hole in the ground, Juliet Carrick fishing something quite terrifying up from the depths of the lake, and the wretched Middles attempting to do laundry. There's even a visit from the folks at the Sonnalpe, and a rather touching episode featuring a prank gone very right. Through it all, Brent-Dyer adds shades and colours to her characters, as they pull pranks on one another or - in the case of the three accompanying mistresses - discuss their charges with a welcome hint of sarcasm and exasperation.
Evocative, charming, and a lovely little holiday away from the hustle and bustle of a Chalet School term.
Once again, the novel benefits from Brent-Dyer's powers of description. She sketches out a perfectly wonderful setting for the camp: a beautiful lake ringed round by mountains, a little distance away from a village where the girls go to fetch supplies and buy sundry items like chocolate. Mixed in are accounts of everyday camp life, as wood is fetched from the forest and meals of cold chicken and fried wafers of potato (doesn't that sound delectable!) are prepared.
Of course, it wouldn't be a Chalet camp without its fair share of hijinks, and Brent-Dyer comes up with some of her most memorable incidents here: whether it's Joey Bettany disappearing into a hole in the ground, Juliet Carrick fishing something quite terrifying up from the depths of the lake, and the wretched Middles attempting to do laundry. There's even a visit from the folks at the Sonnalpe, and a rather touching episode featuring a prank gone very right. Through it all, Brent-Dyer adds shades and colours to her characters, as they pull pranks on one another or - in the case of the three accompanying mistresses - discuss their charges with a welcome hint of sarcasm and exasperation.
Evocative, charming, and a lovely little holiday away from the hustle and bustle of a Chalet School term.
June 13, 2015
I still read most Chalet books with the same joy (and frequently frustration - 'We made the Fourth Form the limit' vs the number of characters apparently in the Third) I had as a child. But there are some aspects of the Chalet world which look different to my adult self, mainly around the descriptions of looking after babies and children. And this book is the one most affected, because I think I'm safe in saying I now have about twenty times more experience than EBD had in running guide camps.
So when I read this now, I have a huge struggle to park everything I know about guide camps and just go with the story. I know that logical organisation was never EBD's strong point, but is making a few lists really so hard?
As a child, though, I loved this Chalet - packed with favourite characters, sunshine, and camp detail (I loved guide camp, and still do). To her credit, EBD captures a lot of this extremely well - the chores, the hours spent cooking over a hot fire, magical evenings of campfire singing, the fun and the friendship.
I'm always sorry to leave the Baumersee at the end, and I accept that it's a brilliant camp experience for the participants. It's just that nowadays I can't help but immediately want to fire up a spreadsheet and start planning the camp properly.
So when I read this now, I have a huge struggle to park everything I know about guide camps and just go with the story. I know that logical organisation was never EBD's strong point, but is making a few lists really so hard?
As a child, though, I loved this Chalet - packed with favourite characters, sunshine, and camp detail (I loved guide camp, and still do). To her credit, EBD captures a lot of this extremely well - the chores, the hours spent cooking over a hot fire, magical evenings of campfire singing, the fun and the friendship.
I'm always sorry to leave the Baumersee at the end, and I accept that it's a brilliant camp experience for the participants. It's just that nowadays I can't help but immediately want to fire up a spreadsheet and start planning the camp properly.
August 8, 2013
Well, this is easily my favourite Chalet novel so far. The Chalet School is a very poor example of the school story insofar as it's really a series of adventure novels in which all the characters attend or teach at the same school. The Chalet Girls in Camp is the most honest of the lot since it does what it says on the tin, meaning we're treated to the very best Elinor Brent-Dyer has to offer - long descriptions of meals and food, domestic work, treasure hunts - and this time it's contextualized enough to make sense. I loved this also for personal reasons - it reminded me so much of the wonderful camaraderie and sense of escapism I would feel every time I went to camp (and I did go to camp twice a year for over ten years). The brief allusions to girls' guiding were also very welcome as I've always been very interested in that topic. All in all, good fun. I miss camp terribly, perhaps I missed my vocation as a camp counsellor!
January 5, 2025
By the time she got to this book EBD had hit her stride. Such a great story with so many hilarious things happening- Jo and Bill, the body in the lake ad the laundresses in particular. Number 9 in a reread (I started at Exike don’t @ at me, then went back to School at the Chalet) and the first reread since I went to Pertisau. Jo is such a great heroine, funny, loyal, caring but also human too. From Chalet School and Jo to New House encompasses my absolute favourite boobs of the series. EBD’s love of the Tirol shines through. They’re marvellous
June 1, 2011
Another tale of Jo and the gang, as this time they go camping. I love these tales-from-another-time, although I don't necessarily agree with some of the ideas about women, marriage and how it effectively ends their careers!
March 25, 2023
Another re-read
I enjoyed this book more this time
A slight though pleasant holiday book
As I am currently trying to do a re- read of the entire series for the first time in order , this book makes a good break from the term time books
I enjoyed this book more this time
A slight though pleasant holiday book
As I am currently trying to do a re- read of the entire series for the first time in order , this book makes a good break from the term time books
February 16, 2009
Another in my own growing collection of Chalet school books. This one is from earlier in the series, and Jo and the girls are off on a guides camp. Many exciting adventures ensue.
March 16, 2012
This was one of my favourites - and now I'm home I see that I DO own a copy! Hurrah! Time for a re-read, most definitely :)
May 6, 2014
Another classic story. Loved the fishing expedition and funny outcome! Some funny episodes with Jo falling down the hole and the girls washing their clothes with cornflour! Loved it!
January 10, 2016
As always very easy to read. The world was so very different back then so it is good to read something so wholesome just to put myself back in an even keel.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews