The CBB :: View topic - One-Term Wonders!

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#1: One-Term Wonders! Author: Bee, Location: Canberra, Australia

Posted: Tue May 08, 2007 1:55 am
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You know what I'm talking about... the new girls who feature prominently in one book, then disappear for the rest of the series, only to be mentioned in passing. Which girls do you wish had lasted longer, and which characters do you think were basically unnecessary additions?

#2: Author: Maeve, Location: Romania

Posted: Tue May 08, 2007 6:47 am
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I would keep:

Rosamund Liley
Katherine Gordon
Jane Carew
Carola Johnstone
Richenda

I would srcub:

Ted
Jack
Adrienne
Althea

#3: Author: Tan, Location: London via Newcastle Australia

Posted: Tue May 08, 2007 7:20 am
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Can I add Gay Lambert and Jacynth Hardy to the keep list? I really would have liked to learn more about them. And I would keep everyone on Maeve's list.

I would definitely lose Jack and Adrienne (mainly because of the implausability of the connection with the Robin Rolling Eyes

)

#4: Author: Squirrel, Location: St-Andrews or Dunfermline

Posted: Tue May 08, 2007 7:35 am
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Personally, I quite like Ted, so would probably vote to keep her. Not sure about Naomi either way.

#5: Author: Rosalin, Location: Swansea

Posted: Tue May 08, 2007 9:45 am
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I too agree with Maeve's lists but would like to add Naomi to the keep one.
I like her as a character and she is more complex than many of the others. I've always wanted a scene (or more) with her after the accident but have never seen one. Apologies for the pun, it crept in while I was looking the other way Embarassed

I'd like to know whether she kept up the changes that Mary-Lou made in her and whether she decided that as she had been cured she would now believe in God. Also what her aunt would have made of that.

I'd like to know more about Gay before she came to the school. In Gay from China EBD hints at a lot more back story than she actually gives. It sounds as if there should be a Lost Staircase type connecting book.

I would happily get rid of Erica too. I find her quite an annoying character and I don't like the contrived way in which she manages to meet Jo. I also think the Maynards really don't need another ward at this point. I suppose this would mean getting rid of Marie-Claire too but I don't think that's a problem and given the times after her arrival when Cecil, Phil and Geoff are the only occupants of the Freudesheim nursery, presumably Jo and Jack wouldn't notice either. Wink

#6: Author: Caroline, Location: Manchester

Posted: Tue May 08, 2007 10:09 am
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I can't count Gay and Jacynth as one-book-wonders. They star in Gay from China, certainly, but they also play a big part in Mystery, and feature prominently in Three Go and Island. As that's most of the books that cover their time at the school, I think they are doing pretty well.

My faves for featuring more after their eponymous books would be:

Lavender Leigh - would have loved to see her 'make good' as a prefect.

Flora and Fauna - also would have liked to see twin prefects.

Both Lavender and the twins suffer from EBD leaving such a huge gap between Rosalie and Three Go and then mixing all her chronology up / clinging on to Gill, Gay and Jacynth when they really should have left.

Prunella Davidson - I like her very much, when she settles down, and wish she had had more to do, both as Len's friend (which we are told about, but don't really see much of) and as a girl in Josette's year.

Rosamund - I agree with everyone else in that I wish she had been allowed to serve a full year as HG. She seemed to be shuffled off early just to make room for Len, who then served five terms. Challenge should have been Len's start as HG - which would have made that book even more interesting.

Katherine Gordon - yep, she's a keeper. Her year generally suffers a bit from being just after Bride and Co and just before ML, but I really like that group of girls - Katt, Blossom, Sybil, Betsy, Hilary Wilson etc.

Jane Carew - is lovely, I hope she would have had more to do if EBD had lived to write more.

Carola Johnstone - meh, not so sure. She seemed a bit one dimensional to me. Too similar to other characters. I'd be fine seeing more of her, but I don't miss her particularly.

Richenda Fry - she was wasted rather. If you think how many of the last run of books is Triplets-focussed, it's remarkable how little time is spent with their friends. I think it's partly Ruey's presence and partly the interplay between the three Maynards themselves, which takes the attention away from Ricki, Ros and Ted.

Erica Standish - I like very much. A really fresh, dizzy character.

Audrey Everett - more, please of her making good. I hope we would have seen more of Erica and Audrey if EBD had lived to write more.

Jack Lambert - I don't think she counts as a one-book-wonder, as we see loads of her. Way too much, IMO. I wish she had been allowed to fade a little after Feud rather than keep bouncing back into prominence.

Finally, I'd vote for more of Jo Scott. And more of Barbara Chester, too - she became a bit of a cipher after her book. And was portrayed as rather an unattractive personaility when she was a prefect. Not the original dainty, pretty, thoughtful Babs at all, but a bit blundering and insensitive and rude.

#7: Author: Lexi, Location: Liverpool

Posted: Tue May 08, 2007 10:42 am
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Rosalin wrote:

I'd like to know more about Gay before she came to the school. In Gay from China EBD hints at a lot more back story than she actually gives. It sounds as if there should be a Lost Staircase type connecting book.

I always thought that. I should know more about this considering it's my favourite book of the series ( Embarassed

) but is Gay meant to be a new girl? She always strikes me as being well established as a character and not like a new girl at all.

I'd basically go with Maeve's list but add Ted to it because I liked her as a character. Carola should definitely have featured more. Wasn't she another that got a bit lost chronology wise? IIRC she started off with Clem etc but she's still a prefect well after they've left.

Most of the girls in the later books (Jack, Erica, Adrienne, Althea) don't really appeal to me. I'm not overly keen on Ruey either and would have preferred the girls who were prefects with the triplets to be a lot better written and more rounded.

#8: Author: Caroline, Location: Manchester

Posted: Tue May 08, 2007 11:04 am
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Lexi wrote:

Rosalin wrote:

I always thought that. I should know more about this considering it's my favourite book of the series ( Embarassed

) but is Gay meant to be a new girl? She always strikes me as being well established as a character and not like a new girl at all.

She's not new, no. It's not stated explicitly, but if you read the wording carefully, I think EBD tells us that Gay has been at the school for a couple of terms - which makes her new in Highland Twins. And Gill Culver looked after her when she was new, as Gay does for Jacynth.

HTH.

Edited because I *really* can't spell.

#9: Author: Ray, Location: Bristol, England

Posted: Tue May 08, 2007 11:05 am
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Lexi wrote:

Rosalin wrote:

I always thought that. I should know more about this considering it's my favourite book of the series ( Embarassed

) but is Gay meant to be a new girl? She always strikes me as being well established as a character and not like a new girl at all.

Is Gay meant to be new? No. Considering how often I've read Gay in the last eighteen months, you'd think I'd remember how long she says she's been at the school, when she meets Jacynth, but I think it's either one or two terms. Considering the two previous books deal exclusively with juniors/prefects or middles/prefects, that she didn't get mentioned in either of them's not surprising.

Is there a connecting book? Not written by EBD, but there is one effort at plugging that gap. Whether it comes to anything published or whether it ends up on here as a (very!) long drabble, though, is entirely in the hands of GGB.

Ray *coughs and looks slightly embarrassed*

#10: Author: Caroline, Location: Manchester

Posted: Tue May 08, 2007 11:09 am
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Oh, Ray - that sounds exciting. I do hope GGB go for it (note to self: exert subtle influence on Ruth next time I speak to her!).

Good luck, and if you need a constructive (hopefully!), been-through-the-process-with-GGB impartial reader-type-person, I think I might know where to find one.....

Very Happy

#11: Author: Róisín, Location: Ireland

Posted: Tue May 08, 2007 11:20 am
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I remember texting Liz B in the middle of the night the first time I read Lavender Laughs in HB to check that Gay Lambert was supposed to be there Embarassed

If I could just have one onetermwondergirl back for more, it would have to be Jane Carew. She is a breath of fresh air in the later books, when most of the characters seem recycled and stale.

#12: Author: jennifer, Location: Taiwan

Posted: Tue May 08, 2007 11:24 am
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In Gay from China Gay says it's her third term - she had attended Exeter High before that, after coming back from China - so yes, she'd have been new in Highland Twins. She appears briefly in Lavender Laughs - her first appearance.

--

I would like to have seen more of Lavender and Flora and Fiona. They all fade into the background, and leave school before they are prefects. Lavender leaves after fifth form, as do the twins.

I would like to have seen more of Clem. Even in Three Go she takes a back seat to Mary-Lou, and she's such a nice character.

I think some of the disappearing girls do so because their main purpose in their first book is being the problem that needs to be solved. Once the problem is solved and they're proper Chalet Girls, they fade into the background.

I could have done with seeing less of Jack Lambert and less of Mary-Lou.

I think some of the triplet's age group (like Richenda, or Ted, who I quite liked) are neglected because there are so many characters in that year. You have the triplets, plus Jo Scott, Rosamund Lilley, Joan Baker, Richenda, Ruey, Ted and Emerence, all of whom have one book devoted to them, and a host of interesting minor characters - Yseult, Francie, Betty and Alicia, Sue Meadows, Odette Mercier, Prudence and Priscilla Dawbarn, and so on. There's only so much book space, so aside from the Triplets and the introductory books, we see small bits of the characters.

#13: Author: Lexi, Location: Liverpool

Posted: Tue May 08, 2007 11:36 am
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Ray wrote:

*bounces with excitement*

I love Gay so either way I'm very very happy

#14: Author: Fatima, Location: Sunny Qatar

Posted: Tue May 08, 2007 2:49 pm
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I'd have liked more of Copper - being one of the people who actually likes Redheads! I always thought she was a very normal sort of girl and wish she'd got more than the odd mention in later books.

#15: Author: Clare, Location: Liverpool

Posted: Tue May 08, 2007 6:56 pm
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Theodora was one of the first books I got so I've always had a soft spot for Ted. I would have loved to have seen more of her in the later books. I too liked Redheads and would have liked to see more of Copper. She was so down to earth and was a lovely character.

#16: Author: ali, Location: medway, kent

Posted: Tue May 08, 2007 7:34 pm
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I would have liked to see more of how Annis Lovell changed after Island, she became very much a minor character after her book even though Tom etal featured regularly.
None of the later characters particularly struck me and agree with everyone who want to see a lot less of Jack, although her sister could have been developed more.
I know Verity is often mentioned in the stories, but after three go she seems to be someone for Mary Lou to fuss over and deserved more storylines of her own.

#17: Author: Dreaming Marianne, Location: Second star to the right

Posted: Tue May 08, 2007 8:41 pm
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Have to agree with Fatima - but then I liked "Redheads" too!

Going to be slightly controversial here and say - scrub Con. Boring, one dimensional, cardboard cut-out. Positively biscuit-cutter in terms of "dreamy writer". Actually, scrub Len as well. Though I do feel a bit sorry for her, I aways felt that she had an unfair amount of responsibility placed upon her.

#18: Author: francesn, Location: away with the faeries

Posted: Tue May 08, 2007 9:09 pm
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I have to say I don't actually consider Katherine Gordon a one-hit wonder. She's a strong prefect, we see her doing a lot in Switzerland, and as part of that "group" in general.

I would also say Ros Lilley isn't just one book either, ditto Ted Grantley, both of them are absorbed into the triplet's friendship group and play relatively central parts in later books.

#19: Author: Elle, Location: Peterborough

Posted: Tue May 08, 2007 10:11 pm
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Fatima wrote:

I'd have liked more of Copper - being one of the people who actually likes Redheads! I always thought she was a very normal sort of girl and wish she'd got more than the odd mention in later books.

I agree, I have only read Redheads once, but I remember liking her as a character, and I am aware she sort of faded away after 'her' book.

#20: Author: LizzieC, Location: Canterbury, UK

Posted: Tue May 08, 2007 10:57 pm
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Clare wrote:

I too liked Redheads and would have liked to see more of Copper. She was so down to earth and was a lovely character.

I'm agree with this comment and am inclined to think that's because out of all the later books Copper is one of the most three dimensional well rounded characters which makes her a joy to read about, even when the story built around her is rather far fetched in places.

#21: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Tue May 08, 2007 11:09 pm
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I'd scrub some of the one-term wonders in the later books - IMHO there're too many of them and it makes things seem disjointed! Maybe the Everetts and the rest of their gang, and Evelyn Ross and Adrienne Desmoines.

I'd like to've seen more of Maria Balbini, Mélanie Lucas (possibly), Annis Lovell and Carola Johnstone. And I don't know why Yseult Pertwee was written out so soon after she appeared - she was different, at least! And, although she reappeared later in the series, I really wish that we'd got to see more than one term of Elisaveta at school.

#22: Author: Bee, Location: Canberra, Australia

Posted: Wed May 09, 2007 2:52 am
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I would have liked to see much more of Polly Heriot. She quickly became one of my favourite characters, and the only other book I can remember her being mentioned is in "Exile". (Correct me if I'm wrong, please!) And it would have been interesting to see more of how Maria Balbini settled into the Chalet School, considering her vendetta against them just the term before - and the affect of her mother's death.

The Swiss books seem to have more characters who turn up for a short time. I don't think much of Adrienne or Althea, but I did really like the two Sams (Samantha and Samaris), Audrey Everett, Erica Standish and Evelyn Ross. I also would have liked to see Audrey "make good"! Erica was young and fresh and seemed a bit ditzy, which was different from many of EBD's characters. I would have liked to see how she turned out in the top forms. And I can imagine both the Sams being prefects, and possibly Head Girls - they both seemed to be genuine leaders.

Quote:

Going to be slightly controversial here and say - scrub Con. Boring, one dimensional, cardboard cut-out. Positively biscuit-cutter in terms of "dreamy writer". Actually, scrub Len as well. Though I do feel a bit sorry for her, I aways felt that she had an unfair amount of responsibility placed upon her.

Con is my favourite of the triplets, but I agree that the "dreamy writer" thing gets old. I would have liked to see more of Ricki Fry and Odette Mercier, because it seems as though Con is forming a friendship with them, and then it's forgotten about. As for Len, I like the fact that she becomes close with Rosamund Lilley (whom I really like, and wish we had seen more of), but also think there is way too much responsibility placed on her. I wish we had seen her (and Con) play up as a Middle, rather than become a Senior at twelve, I think it was! I also think Rosamund should have had the year as Head Girl, and then Len could follow.

I also would have liked to see more of Ruey Richardson, Katherine Gordon, Clem Barrass, Jacynth Hardy and Gay Lambert! They aren't exactly one-term wonders, but they're strong characters and are sort of pushed aside in favour of Mary-Lou and the triplets.

#23: Author: jennifer, Location: Taiwan

Posted: Wed May 09, 2007 4:51 am
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I think Copper would have been a great head girl - she's not one of the flashier girls, but she's got common sense, and a good personality, and is looked up to by the younger girls.

I would love to see Erica turning into a slightly dizzy blond teenager. I can see her obsessing over her hair style, trying to sneak on makeup, longing after the latest fashion, pining after movie stars, and giggling over cute boys with her friends. I don't see her being really bad, just ditzy and featherheaded and trendy and not at all inclined to live like a proper 1930s school girl. Joey's reaction would be priceless. Laughing

#24: Author: Tan, Location: London via Newcastle Australia

Posted: Wed May 09, 2007 7:16 am
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Bee wrote:

I would have liked to see much more of Polly Heriot. She quickly became one of my favourite characters, and the only other book I can remember her being mentioned is in "Exile". (Correct me if I'm wrong, please!)

Sadly there are only brief mentions in Lavender. She goes to stay with Jo after her guardian dies, and she was there when Stephen was born. But that is pretty much the last mention of her.

#25: Author: JayB, Location: SE England

Posted: Wed May 09, 2007 11:37 am
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I like Copper, the two Sams and Evelyn. They are all well drawn characters with different personalities. I suppose we might have seen more of them if the series had continued.

I wish we'd seen more of Rikki. I thought her love of ceramics was different and very well shown - EBD might actually have done some research there! Plus the Quaker background was different.

Prunella I could do without. EBD doesn't seem to have given much thought to her personality beyond the initial 'prunes and prisms' act.

And Melanie and Adrienne don't really contribute very much. Neither of them are strong characters obviously destined for prefectship.

#26: Author: Tan, Location: London via Newcastle Australia

Posted: Wed May 09, 2007 8:07 pm
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I definitely would have loved to see more of both Copper and Rikki. I think that Copper came across as a nice girl, and it was good she didn't have the usual hangups that a new girl had. I also liked Rikki, and was a bit surprised to read that in a later book she was described as a friend of Con's.

#27: Author: Loryat,

Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 11:24 am
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Same here, Tan. In Richenda she seems far more friendly with Len. There is a bit where they (Rikki and Con) talk about their future careers, but then she more or less goes back to Len.

Reading this thread I have realised how much I actually liked most of the 'one hit wonders'. Also, considering how widely criticised the later Swiss books are, I'm surprised that EBD managed to create so many strong and well liked characters for them!

#28: Author: LizzieC, Location: Canterbury, UK

Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 2:02 pm
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Loryat wrote:

Reading this thread I have realised how much I actually liked most of the 'one hit wonders'. Also, considering how widely criticised the later Swiss books are, I'm surprised that EBD managed to create so many strong and well liked characters for them!

I think part of the problem with the Swiss books is that EBD did create so many strong and well liked characters and then ignored them completely! In the books before Switzerland (and especially in the Tyrol) she creates characters and then keeps following up on them and showing how they grow (Stacie for example). By Switzerland it almost seems as if she is bored on following up on characters she has already created and drops more and more of them after a term to create new ones. It's frustrating to see some have so much (an entire book) invested in them and then to never hear any more about them.

#29: Author: Tan, Location: London via Newcastle Australia

Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 8:22 pm
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LizzieC wrote:

By Switzerland it almost seems as if she is bored on following up on characters she has already created and drops more and more of them after a term to create new ones. It's frustrating to see some have so much (an entire book) invested in them and then to never hear any more about them.

I found that quite annoying. And used to get very annoyed with Len as she seemed so fickle with her friends. Laughing

#30: Author: wheelchairprincess, Location: Oxfordshire, UK

Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 9:19 pm
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I would like to have seen more of the two Sams, of Flora and Fiona, of Joan Baker and of Gill Culver.

But that said I was reading the earlier replies going "oh yeah more of her, yup, more of her." So really, pretty much everyone.

#31: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Thu May 10, 2007 9:30 pm
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The up side of all this is that there are so many lovely characters whose lives we don't really know much about, which provides wonderful drabble fodder Very Happy

. I love reading about some of the characters I wished there'd been more about in the books.

#32: Author: Bee, Location: Canberra, Australia

Posted: Fri May 11, 2007 12:54 am
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LizzieC wrote:

Loryat wrote:

I agree! And I wonder what made Mary-Lou, for example, important enough to feature prominently for the rest of the series, when there were so many other characters who were also just as strong when they were introduced? (Am I making any sense??)

And back to Erica... lol, I'm reading Summer Term at the Chalet School at the moment, and I can just imagine her hitching up her skirt when she's out of Joey's sight, being sent out of class for wearing jewelry or lipgloss, spending ages getting ready for Sunday Mass in the hopes of meeting cute boys, dreaming of becoming a fashion designer and gossiping about clothes, makeup, movie stars and other girls with the rest of her Crew! Very Happy

Still, I imagine she'd be rather nice, if flighty, and become a disruptive influence in the school... and I'd just love to see Joey's reaction to that.

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