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A School Divided
184 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1944
5 people want to read
About the author
Nancy Breary
57 books1 followerBorn in Brixham, Devon, in 1907, Nancy Breary was the eldest daughter of bank manager Arthur Henry Breary, and his wife, Edith Florence. Her younger sister, Gertrude, known as Gretchen, was born in 1908, and her younger brother, Gerald, in 1913. The family moved to London when Breary was still a baby, living in Clapham Park, and then Streatham. She was educated at Kingsdown School in Dorking, where she was sent as a boarder, from 1918 to 1924.
Intending to become a dietician, Breary took a domestic science course upon leaving school, but ended up working as a mannequin in a court dressmaker’s shop instead, while also running the family home, after her mother became an invalid. Breary wrote in her spare time at first, eventually switching over to writing as a full-time occupation in 1943, following the publication of Give a Form a Bad Name. Her sister Gretchen, who worked as an illustrator (her work was credited to "G.E. Breary"), was the primary breadwinner in the family, during this period. The Brearys lived briefly in Canada, in the 1950s, before returning to Great Britain in 1955, settling first in Rye, and then Winchelsea. Nancy Breay died, in Winchelsea, in 1988.
Breary was a prolific contributor to the Girls' School Story genre, publishing her first novel, Give a Form a Bad Name, in 1943, and going on to author twenty-six more, concluding with the 1962 Too Many Girls. Although her work does address some of the realities of the school experience - the jealousies amongst the girls, the unpleasantness of being new, and an outsider, the conflict between duty and pleasure - it is rarely intended to be a depiction of "normal life" in a boarding school. Rather, her books offer amusing stories - sometimes almost parodies - complete with many over-the-top elements, from schoolgirl feuds, to secret societies.
Intending to become a dietician, Breary took a domestic science course upon leaving school, but ended up working as a mannequin in a court dressmaker’s shop instead, while also running the family home, after her mother became an invalid. Breary wrote in her spare time at first, eventually switching over to writing as a full-time occupation in 1943, following the publication of Give a Form a Bad Name. Her sister Gretchen, who worked as an illustrator (her work was credited to "G.E. Breary"), was the primary breadwinner in the family, during this period. The Brearys lived briefly in Canada, in the 1950s, before returning to Great Britain in 1955, settling first in Rye, and then Winchelsea. Nancy Breay died, in Winchelsea, in 1988.
Breary was a prolific contributor to the Girls' School Story genre, publishing her first novel, Give a Form a Bad Name, in 1943, and going on to author twenty-six more, concluding with the 1962 Too Many Girls. Although her work does address some of the realities of the school experience - the jealousies amongst the girls, the unpleasantness of being new, and an outsider, the conflict between duty and pleasure - it is rarely intended to be a depiction of "normal life" in a boarding school. Rather, her books offer amusing stories - sometimes almost parodies - complete with many over-the-top elements, from schoolgirl feuds, to secret societies.
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December 22, 2022
Even though she has to be a day girl, the chance to attend St Anne’s school in the beautiful old cathedral town of Carchester seems like paradise to Cherry Kinnaird - until she finds that the cousins who already go there are crashing snobs who don’t believe she should be there at all. Will she ever find her own way at school and win her cousins round?
A girl of the right age reading this book in 1944 must surely have enjoyed it - the idyllic Cathedral town atmosphere, the luscious descriptions of food, and the school where the most serious problems are cheating and make-up wearing must have seemed like a different world to war-exhausted Britain. Today though the heaping of every kind of fault on Cherry’s cousins seems a little over the top. Judy Flannigan is the best kind of school story Head Girl though, and there are hints of a more adult outlook on life in her scenes with Barbara, the eldest cousin who suddenly realises that after all she will soon be out in the adult world so why not play the game of school life properly?
A girl of the right age reading this book in 1944 must surely have enjoyed it - the idyllic Cathedral town atmosphere, the luscious descriptions of food, and the school where the most serious problems are cheating and make-up wearing must have seemed like a different world to war-exhausted Britain. Today though the heaping of every kind of fault on Cherry’s cousins seems a little over the top. Judy Flannigan is the best kind of school story Head Girl though, and there are hints of a more adult outlook on life in her scenes with Barbara, the eldest cousin who suddenly realises that after all she will soon be out in the adult world so why not play the game of school life properly?
Displaying 1 of 1 review