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Books: New Beginnings at the Chalet School
http://www.the-cbb.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=5990
Author:  Róisín [ Mon Apr 27, 2009 12:03 pm ]
Post subject:  Books: New Beginnings at the Chalet School
Synopsis here. By Heather Paisley, this book is set 3 years after the end of the official series.

So... would EBD really have had Jack as headgirl? Is it too soon to have Len back as a member of staff, given that she expressed slightly different wishes in the earlier books? What do you think of the new character - Charlotte Stevens? How does this sequel compare to the other sequels and fill-ins that have been published so far? Did you buy it?

Please raise any issue in relation to New Beginnings at the Chalet School below :D

Next Sunday: The Chalet School Librarian
Author:  Catherine [ Mon Apr 27, 2009 1:08 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: New Beginnings at the Chalet School
This has to be my least favourite of the fill ins/follow ons (CGGU excluded!). The characters just don't seem real to me and I could never figure out why Charlie, Susan and co. are in Lower Third. They're all around 12/13 so I'd have thought would be Upper Third at least. Charlie seems very young for her age and I really can't believe she'd have got ill because of homesickness/worrying over whether her parents loved her - Miss Annersley and the staff would have picked up on it before then (I think Miss Bertram tried to talk to her but she just seemed to give up when Charlie didn't respond!) and got to the bottom of it.

I think Jack may well have been HG at some point (although I'd have preferred Flavia) but only after Janice, Ailie, Judy and co. had been Prefects. She was a form behind them and they're all strong characters so it's unlikely she'd have been put in as Head Girl over them.

I think it's believable to see Margot doubting her vocation and it was lovely to see her with Charlie but I don't think Len would have gone back to teach so quickly bearing in mind how adamant she had been that she wouldn't do it for some years.
Author:  JB [ Mon Apr 27, 2009 2:36 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: New Beginnings at the Chalet School
I do really like this fill-in and I think EBD would have been happy with these futures for her characters (apart from Mary Lou's marriage outside of the clan :D ).

I don't like the idea of Jack as Head Girl but I do think EBD saw her in that role. I like the way that Heather Paisley has Felicity looking up to Jack and the way that Jack and Len's friendship develops. My only complaint would be that Jack is so much nicer here than in earlier books.

I can see Len coming back to teach and the reasons Heather gives make sense. She and Reg had been engaged for more than 3 years, and it's understandable that she'd want to marry him, and I like the way that she surprises Reg when she tells him she's got the job. (This must be the most pro Len and Reg comment i've ever written :shock: ).

I agree with Catherine that Charlie seems very young for her age but I can go along with her worry and illness (although the very long faint is pushing it a bit, but it's very EBD). I love the way Margot writes to Charlie's father and I like Margot much more than usual in this book. I find the scene with her and Jack at the san very moving.

It would have been good to see more of Con but then she's one of my favourite characters.
Author:  Alison H [ Mon Apr 27, 2009 4:08 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: New Beginnings at the Chalet School
I don't like the idea of Jack as HG, but I would think it's what EBD had in mind.

Personally I like to think that Len and Reg didn't get married but, again, I would think that Len coming back to teach at the school and marrying Reg is exactly how EBD would have written things. I think EBD would have married Mary-Lou off to Rix or David rather than an "outsider", but I'm glad that Mary-Lou does escape the CS world in this version!

I think it's a shame that Con is paired with Roger Richardson. Roger is a nice enough guy, but a) I can't see that he and Con have anything in common and b) I think it would be better for Con either to've stayed single for longer or to've ended up with someone who had no connections with her family.
Author:  MJKB [ Mon Apr 27, 2009 8:22 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: New Beginnings at the Chalet School
I really liked this book and I think it's very much in the style of the Swiss books, especially Charlie's extraordinarily long faint! I agree with opinions expressed about the development/softening of Margot's character - and it's very convincingly managed.
Jack seems a very different person altogether, though I believe EBD intended her character to develope along similar lines. Like others, I'd like to have seen more of Con, who is my favourite among the trips. I like Roger, and always pictured him as very attractive, but again like other contributers, it seems a pity that she gets engaged so young.
Joey's accident was very well thought through, and very moving. I'm not sure, however, that EBD would ever have put her main character through such an ordeal. One verypositive outcome of the accident was the demise of the earphones. Well done Heather!.
Author:  Cat C [ Mon Apr 27, 2009 9:40 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: New Beginnings at the Chalet School
I think, on a more general point, that anyone writing a follow on is in a difficult position, because they have to follow on what is generally agreed to be the least good / plausible / well-written bit of the series. Lots of fans don't like everything EBD was doing by the end of the series, so any author trying to continue effectively has two hurdles to clear before they've started.

I started to read the transcript of this, but don't really like reading books from the screen, and was also un-enchanted by the beginning of the book, really. Maybe when I'm not supposed to be doing so much thesis writing I'll finish it.
Author:  JayB [ Mon Apr 27, 2009 9:46 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: New Beginnings at the Chalet School
Quote:
I started to read the transcript of this


Is there a transcript freely available? (Quite understand if it's for private circulation only and not available to all.)

I haven't read this, but I agree with those who have reservations about Con being paired off so soon. The triplets' futures as set out in Prefects were very different - Len to get married, Con to stay single and pursue a career as a writer, Margot to enter religion - it would have been good to see that followed through.
Author:  Kathy_S [ Sat May 02, 2009 5:51 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: New Beginnings at the Chalet School
I enjoyed this one, especially in contrast with Prefects, partly because it's so much less frantic. We have Charlie's story and Jo's accident, both nicely told from my point of view, plus triplet coverage and the requisite nativity play and token-middles-escapade-with-way-too-swingeing-punishment.

I wasn't really ready for Jack as HG, though to be fair there have been 3 years for off stage character development and a good reform is very EBD. Jack's really quite nice in this book. It's just me griping that Jack's description of herself as one of the naughtiest girls in the school is too kind. I'm afraid I'd categorize her past behavior as downright nasty rather than "nice naughtiness." *should be more charitable*

I'm not sure I really buy Roger for Con, but other than that I'm reasonably happy with the trajectories of the triplets in this volume. Len's reasons for coming back seem perfectly reasonable to me, and the cast of wedding guests was almost perfect. (The cover illustration, however, epitomizes that same-face-but-different-hair view of the triplets. I know I should be quoting someone on this description -- sorry! -- can't remember at the moment. Anyhow, I see GGBP apologizes for said cover in the afterward.) Margot's waffling and her decision after the talk with Charlie rang true to me, and I do like Con's current way of balancing home, travel and career.
Author:  claire [ Sat May 02, 2009 9:11 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: New Beginnings at the Chalet School
Roger for Con is just wrong, she'd end up with that doctor in reunion (the one who threw admiring glances after her) - return from uni, he'd be working at the san and hey presto marriage bells
Author:  JayB [ Sat May 02, 2009 11:33 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: New Beginnings at the Chalet School
I've now read this - thanks to the people who offered the transcript! I thought the author did well at recreating EBD's style, and I enjoyed it overall.

I'm sure EBD intended Jack to be Head Girl, and I think she was shaping up to be a good one here - but as others have said, a much nicer girl than she was earlier!

I thought the grief and worry over Jo's accident and the closeness of the Maynards was very well done.

I wasn't very convinced by Charlotte's storyline. How was it that she didn't know until two weeks before the start of term that she wouldn't be going to America with her parents? Hadn't she been asking where they would live in America, where she would go to school?

But I thought the Middles' prank was good, and quite original!

I'd have liked to see more of Len's early teaching experiences. There's quite a lot of telling rather than showing of what should have been quite major scenes - for example when Len throws Charlotte out of her class.

I thought Margot's doubts were realistic, but I wish Con's storyline could have been some significant professional success, rather than just being paired off with Roger.
Author:  KatieJ [ Tue May 05, 2009 8:25 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: New Beginnings at the Chalet School
This is my first post here, although I've been following the board for a while. I've not read NB, as it's a little too much on amazon to afford, but I do own Chalet School Librarian and it's nice to see some of the themes from this book following through- although having read librarian first it was a little surprising to read about Joey's hair- I couldn't work out if it was something i'd missed in prefects!! :mrgreen:
Author:  JS [ Wed May 06, 2009 9:15 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: New Beginnings at the Chalet School
Welcome to the board, KatieJ. Hope it's the first post of many. :)
Author:  MJKB [ Thu May 07, 2009 9:23 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: New Beginnings at the Chalet School
KatieJ wrote:
although having read librarian first it was a little surprising to read about Joey's hair-

I presume then Librarian is a sequel to NB. Must get that, and Joey [i]did[/i finally get rid of the earphones, something she was threatening in NB?
Author:  Pat [ Thu May 07, 2009 9:44 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: New Beginnings at the Chalet School
the earphones went in New Beginnings. I just went with that in Librarian.
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