The CBB :: View topic - Redheads at the Chalet School

#1: Redheads at the Chalet School Author: Rachael,

Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2004 8:52 am

A summary of this book may be found here Starting points for discussion: Fave/worst scenes? How well does this book fit with the rest of the series? Does EBD stretch your credulity too far? How do you like Copper? What do you think of Val's behaviour? Anything else?

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

Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2004 10:15 pm

I'm sort of thinking the deafening silence on this thread is probably a good indicator of what most folks think of this one. I can't answer detailed questions (having only read the big 'action' scene at the end [for the purposes of rewriting it!]), but I'll give my feelings on what I have read and the storyline in general. Does EBD stretch my credulity too far? No. My 'adult' reading extends to books by the likes of Robert Ludlum, Chris Ryan and Andy McNabb so the actual idea of there being people like the overall bad guy who want to get to Inspector Letton through his daughter is not a leap for me at all. It can, and does, happen. Should EBD have attempted it? Difficult to say. I think I know *why* she did it (personal boredom every once in a while you've got to try something really different when you write and particularly if you write in the volume that EBD did), but the thriller genre is clearly NOT a genre EBD was all at familiar with in terms of the mechanics of writing, and then she really hamstrung* herself by putting that gun in the big climax... I think she also wanted to say "I am with it I am moving with the times" - there, at least, I think she succeeds (I could be wrong, but I'm thinking she may well have been the first children's author to depict heroin useage, which is a fairly eye-opening concept), but I'm not convinced that success balances out the less-than-tense final standoff. Does the book fit in with the rest of the series? Yes and no. (I may be getting spliters in a minute from all this fence sitting!) It fits in that this isn't the first time she's tackled something from the thriller end of the scale - Princess (which just strikes me as silly now, but read fine when I was twelve), Goes To It (the poachers scenes were kind of odd in the context of the rest of the book) and Highland Twins (which I think really did work out quite well). On the other hand, none of the previous attempts have really been complete thrillers they've always been sub-plots against the main story. They were school stories first and thrillers a long way second. The difference with Redheads is that it's a thriller first and a school story second. What do I think of the climax? It could have been worse. When I read it for the purposes of doing my take on the scene, I went in expecting something truly dreadful from some of the comments I've seen around on this board at various times, and it wasn't as bad as I was fearing. On the other hand...well, I certainly thought it could use improving! *By hamstrung, I mean this: Guns are long range weapons. They are, without a shadow of a doubt, the thing I loathe most about writing thriller-style stories - we've been conditioned now to expect guns, to the point that a thriller that doesn't feature them in some way doesn't feel quite as real as one that does. To use them sucessfully in a scene you need to have at least a passing familiarity with what the various types of gun can and will do. EBD isn't familiar with them, and it shows. The scene comes off as melodramatic rather than tense. Ray *hoping she may have got the ball rolling now*

#3: Author: patmac, Location: Yorkshire England

Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2004 10:57 pm

*Rolls the ball a little more* This is a very late book so I read it when already 'grown up' (or as far as I'm going in that direction, anyway). I thought initially that it jarred with the rest of the series but, on reflection, it's an updated version of 'Princess'. From Ruritania in Princess to 'The Yard' in Redheads seems not too far a step really. I agree with Ray that the concept of the overall bad guy is reasonable in a thriller genre - and in real life! Think of the Krays, Al Capone etc. and this guy doesn't seem so far out after all. Should EBD have attempted it? Yes, of course she should! It shows a willingness to try something new, which should never be criticised. Whether her publishers/editors etc., should have pushed her to refine it is another matter. I certainly hadn't thought of Ray's point that it is probably the first children's book to deal with heroin usage, but I think it shows that, contrary to what we tend to think, EBD was not totally cocooned in a cosy GO world. Does the book fit in with the rest of the series? It does really. The school takes yet another situation and rises triumphant! What do I think of the climax? I did cringe a little at the thought that the gun would most likely have killed someone, given the description of the scene! I don't think the basic premise of Hilda being rescued by the girls or Inspector Letton appearing are a problem - seen worse coincidences in Dickens or Shakespeare Wink

. By no means my favourite book. I read EBD for the GO genre and if I want thriller there are plenty of people who do it a lot better.

#4: Author: Ruth, Location: Lincolnshire, England

Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2004 11:03 am

I enjoyed this book. I like Copper and I think on the whole she adapts very well considering everything. Not being able to kiss Inspector Letton goodbye, having to change her name and the rest. It fits in well with the rest of the series - another triumph for the Chalet School. One of my most favourite scenes is when Len and Copper leap in through the window of Miss Annersley's study. Heedless or what?!

#5: Author: Dreaming Marianne, Location: Devon

Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2004 4:02 pm

Sorry, it's ages since I read this book, and then of course only in the pb. But I did enjoy it very much. I liked the relationship between Inspector Letton and Copper, I liked the opening scene of them on the train. It also felt to me more modern - reading it as I must have been in the early 90s. So not an awful lot to add, I'm afraid, not vintage CS, but a good read nonetheless!

#6: Author: Lisa_T, Location: Belfast

Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2004 4:00 am

In spite of all it's faults, I do like this book. Not that that should come as any surprise to anyone! I was skimming the chapter when Val is taken for the purpose oif writing 'Keeper' and was struck by how very menacing Dwight actually is, when seen from the perpective of a schoolgirl. Then again my copy is ia HB and it's years since I read the pb. I know this book is not down as being cut, but I'd like to compare the two for slight differences. One thing that did grate on me (and still does) is that throughout this book, Len always calls the Head 'Aunt Hilda' which seems weird when it's 'Auntie Hilda' throughout the rest of the series!

#7: Author: Kathy_S, Location: midwestern US

Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2004 7:22 am

The basic premise of hiding Copper at the school, and the mistaken kidnapping of Val, seemed well within the norms of the school-mystery genre. (never thought of it as a thriller!) Up until the return of Val, I thought the story flowed well, and fit with the rest of the series – though Hilda’s telling Val that she was “the only one to blame” for her own kidnapping seemed OTT to me . But then we have this mysterious Edgar Barr, who just happens to deliver Val, and to have a niece at the San, and to be an out-of-touch schoolmate of Jack, and to know all about the Letton case Confused

. What a lot of wasted coincidences when he then disappears without explanation! Unless Barr was meant to be an alias and he was really “Boss” Sam Manley? The drama in the study and its physical & mental aftermath were fairly well done, but the murders of Lou & Dwight/Heinie/Henry were more graphic than usual in juvenile fiction of the era, and the convoluted story of the three criminal brothers and their ancestors could have used a good editor. And how did Len know that Sam Manley was in the C.I.D. before it was mentioned? (Oddly enough, I kept seeing evidence of Len’s laran during this read-through Laughing

) Interesting stew of views on capital punishment, the efficacy of punishment in the criminal justice system, and correlation between upbringing & culpability. I was a little surprised to see EBD actually admit that the CS is “not exactly a cheap school.” Do you think Madge envisioned it that way, back at the founding? Vocab: What exactly does “G.P.” stand for in the CS? Can’t think of a kind of crush with these initials, only G.P. the doctor. I giggled at the “laocöon-like tangle” in the study, and concluded the CS had the same Latin book illustration we did Smile

#8: Author: claire, Location: South Wales

Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2004 7:44 am

GP = Grand Passion

#9: Author: Kathy_S, Location: midwestern US

Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2004 5:39 pm

Thank you, Claire.

#10: Author: Alex, Location: Manchester

Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2004 6:08 pm

I don't think the Edgar Barr thing is too coincidental, Jack is always bumping into people he knows! OK so maybe it is a bit but not more so than any of the other times.

#11: Author: Laura, Location: London (ish)

Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2004 6:21 pm

Ok..er... Fave/worst scenes? - Favourite scene the leap-through-the-window scene. Least favourite the Edgar Barr one - 'I just happened to be on the train and I just happened to know you hence cannot be suspected and I just happened to know all about this' is just stretching plausibility too far! How well does this book fit with the rest of the series? - reasonably so, after we've been built up to unlikliness by Princess etc etc. Does EBD stretch your credulity too far? - Possibly. *sitting on the fence kicking my heels here...* How do you like Copper? - I really like her. I felt I connected a lot better with her as a character than various others (eg Adrienne) and I actually cared what happened to her, making the book much harder to put down (in comparison to the rest of the series where each chaper is essentially a little separate plot with perhaps one small theme running throughout). What do you think of Val's behaviour? - Irrational, odd... I think the 'your being kidnapped was all your fault' thing was perhaps taking it too far on Miss A's part although perhaps it was necessary to get the idiocy of what she did into Val's head. Anything else? - No, I'm finally done! This feels like a v long post (for me, anyway!)

#12: Author: Kathy_S, Location: midwestern US

Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2004 6:30 pm

The coincidences themselves wouldn't have bothered me too much. It's just that, after all this build-up, Barr disappears from the narrative. We last see him in the study the day of his arrival, pointing out the newspaper article on the double murder to Jack & Hilda. You'd think he'd play some role in the dénouement.

#13: Author: claire, Location: South Wales

Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2004 7:07 pm

Or marry a mistress

#14: Author: Laura, Location: London (ish)

Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2004 7:11 pm

Or a doctor!! Rolling Eyes

....and how did he know Jack again??! Shocked

#15: Author: Lisa_T, Location: Belfast

Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2004 6:04 pm

All these comments about Barr are giving me ideas!!! AS for Jack meeting people, that's not so bad. Think Emerson in the Amelia books, or in real life, my grandmother is chronic for it. We used to joke she could go to NYC and meet someone she knew. She did! Shocked

Ballybeen must be full of globe trotters(!)

#16: Author: Cazx, Location: Swansea/Bristol

Posted: Sun Sep 12, 2004 9:19 pm

I like Redheads, I know it is farstretched but it is a book and things occur in books which don't happen in real life. I like Copper and wish we'd seen more of her in the rest of the series. I like the chapter when the st Hilds girls come to visit the CS (although I didnt have a clue who they were when I first read Redheads) I like the way EBD manages to set things up on that walk.

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