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Books: A Future Chalet School Girl
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Author:  Róisín [ Tue Jan 27, 2009 1:12 pm ]
Post subject:  Books: A Future Chalet School Girl

Synopsis here. A holiday book, this one introduces Melanie Lucas. A twist of fate brings her to Jo Maynard, who immediately starts on the project of sorting Melanie's unhappiness. Melanie accompanies the Maynards for the summer to the Tiernsee. While at the Tiernsee, an Old Girl - Irma Ancozsky - turns up and fills Joey in on her marriage and life since the CS.

So... opinions on this book! What do you think of the Richardson-in-space storyline? This is the book where Len asks NOT to be made prefect - is this out of character? Is the revealed relationship between Melanie and Jeanne le Cadoulec just a *little* stretching it?

Please comment below with any issues relating to A Future Chalet School Girl. :D

Next Sunday: The Feud in the Chalet School

Author:  JennieP [ Tue Jan 27, 2009 2:02 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Future Chalet School Girl

I thought the whole Irma storyline was monumentally pointless and boring. She gets mentioned by name, what, twice in the Tyrol books? I was very "yeah, like, whatever" (not my normal mode of expression, but so apt!) about both that and yet another, surprise surprise, OG relationship.

Author:  Josette [ Tue Jan 27, 2009 2:11 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Future Chalet School Girl

What drives me mad is the fact that Irma Ancoksky at school has become Irma von Rothenfels - the name of another Old Girl - but this coincidence is never mentioned even though Irma and her sister were the cousins of one of Joey's best friends (Marie). I suppose EBD forgot she'd already used this name :roll: :)

Author:  Alison H [ Tue Jan 27, 2009 2:16 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Future Chalet School Girl

I find the Melanie-Jeanne relationship unnecessary and rather silly, and also find it confusing that we meet an Old Girl (Irma) whose married name is the same as that of the maiden name of a totally different Old Girl!

It's always good to see Tyrol again, though, and some interesting points arise about the Maynards. The car journey, with Steve and Mike arguing about who's going to sit by the window, Felix saying that he feels sick, etc, always amuses me and is very realistic. It's interesting to see Len say that she doesn't want the responsibility of being a prefect yet, and also interesting to see Margot being resentful that Joey has collected yet another stray person and that the said person will be joining them on what was meant to be a family holiday.

Is this the book in which Charles is ill and a) he wakes Len rather than Jack or Joey and b) we're told that Len is Anna's favourite, or am I getting mixed up with Joey & Co?

It's not a big point, but why do we have to be told that Julie Lucy has abandoned her plans for a legal career to get married? I know this has been discussed before and realistically it's what would have happened, but it has no relevance to the main storyline whatsoever and (unless maybe a fan had asked what happened to Janie's children) it just feels as if EBD's making a big point of saying that women aren't allowed to have careers unless they're either Joey or CS mistresses.

Edited to correct typo :oops: .

Author:  JayB [ Tue Jan 27, 2009 3:19 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Future Chalet School Girl

This isn't a favourite. I find Melanie and her aunt and uncle a bit wet and useless. Why couldn't any of them write to Melanie's parents to ask whether she should stay as a boarder at her old school or go to Switzerland? Since Melanie ended up as a boarder anyway, it all seemed a bit pointless.

Too many coincidences - Melanie's uncle turning out to know Mr Embury, an Old Girl living at the Chalet, Melanie being a niece of Jeanne le Cadoulec. I'm sorry EBD killed off Jeanne, since she's one of the girls who was involved in the flight from Austria in Exile. And I think there's an EBDism about it, but can't recall what - I think Jeanne is mentioned as being alive in some other book.

The Melanie-jealous-of-Ruey storyline is a repeat of the Francie jealous of Ruey story. And Francie the episode was more interesting, because Francie was a character we already 'knew'.

We don't get to see much of the local people, and at one point I think EBD even get the Pfeiffens' name wrong!

However, it makes a change to see the Maynard boys and to see Jack interacting more with his family. And I like the friendship that develops between Con and Irma - it's nice to see Con going off and doing something on her own, and Irma treating her as an equal.

Author:  Sarah_K [ Tue Jan 27, 2009 6:59 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Future Chalet School Girl

By this book the coincidences were starting to pile up but I quite liked each individual storyline taken on its own. Irma's rather fun, much more so than when she was a schoolgirl! And I too like Con's relationship with her.

The jealousy storyline may be a repeat but then I think with so many children around it's rather realistic that it comes up (and in fact I'm surprised it doesn't come up more around the Maynards!) though I did feel very bad for poor Melanie.

I always like the books where we actually get t see the Maynard boys though so maybe I'm biased.

Author:  Sunglass [ Tue Jan 27, 2009 8:06 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Future Chalet School Girl

The most interesting thing about A Future for me is that I think EBD is writing a slightly indirect plot strand about jealousy and feelings of resentment actually within Freudesheim. Everything is officially hunky-dory there as always, with Melanie continually wishing she had lots of siblings like the Maynards and Con doing PR:
Quote:
“You are lucky to have such a lot of you,” the only child said enviously.
“We are,” Con agreed. “And we’re luckier still to have parents like Mamma and Papa. They are real poppets!”


but I think Margot (and the other triplets to a lesser extent) being unenthusiastic about having yet another acquisition of Joey's wished on them for the holidays, and Melanie violently resenting Ruey for seeming to usurp her place as 'almost family member' are little indications of Trouble in a Somewhat Overcrowded Paradise. EBD can't bring herself to actually write about the Maynard offspring themselves feeling overcrowded or like they're not getting enough attention, so we get it slightly slantwise. The perfect family can't actually say 'Jeez, not another baby, Mamma!' or 'For crying out loud, we've had to build onto St Scholastika's and it used to be a school!' so we get the tensions not involving the Maynard siblings, but expressing things EBD doesn't seem to allow them to say.

Maybe my sense of this is bound up with the fact that this is one of the very few times that the entire Maynard family, plus three Richardsons and Melanie, are all together in the same place, and I always think it's really unwieldy because of that. There are so many characters, that EBD is continually having to tell us where various people not in the scene are, or get rid of a sub-group of them (usually either the babies, who have to be stashed somewhere, or the boys who go off to do 'boy stuff' with Jack), so she can concentrate on Joey and the older girls You find yourself wondering why she gave Joey a family that was too big to deal with fictionally unless a significant percentage of it is away! (Plus she can't really handle writing teenage boys at all - they keep 'going off about their own business'!)

On the topics of large families it's in this novel, and not in Joey Goes to the Oberland that I think she behaves rather unpleasantly about Simone's 'small' family. Within the space of a few pages, she tells first Melanie, who's never even met Simone that she's
Quote:
married and has a family like me – though not such a large one. Tessa, her elder girl, was an only child for seven years before Pierre, her first boy, was born.

and then Irma von Rothenfels, who only remembered her as a prefect from years earlier, that
Quote:
Simone has only four. Her young Tessa was an only for seven years.

There's no need in either case for Joey to go into detail about Simone's (possible) long-past fertility problems, and one can't help feeling that she's making sure her hearer realises that Her Family Is the Biggest.

Author:  Nightwing [ Tue Jan 27, 2009 8:14 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Future Chalet School Girl

In one of the CS books I ordered from GGB recently (I think it was Two Sams) there was an article that talked about how, in the later books, there was much more of an emphasis on having to be related to an Old Girl in order to be a Real Chalet School Girl, and I think the books are all the weaker for it. I did like the story of what had happened to Jeanne, but I think by establishing that Melanie was related to her that Melanie is only accepted because she is related to an Old Girl and not on her own merits.

I do like the jealousy plot, though - I think Ruey's way of dealing with it shows her in a very positive light.

Author:  claire [ Tue Jan 27, 2009 8:52 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Future Chalet School Girl

This was the first chalet book I read, and it made no real sense until I'd read the earlier book.

Author:  JB [ Tue Jan 27, 2009 10:20 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Future Chalet School Girl

I’ve recently reread this book and I like both the Tyrol holiday stories. This was originally one of the last books I read (it and Prefects were the last two I found).

I think it’s a shame though that this books isn’t connected to the next in the series. I’d have liked to see Melanie at school but she barely gets a mention.

I like that we see a different side of Len when she asks not to become a prefect but, again, that isn’t followed through. It’s also another example of how home and school are so mixed up for these girls.

Melanie and Jeanne being related is yet another pointless relationship (Robin and Adrienne, the two Sams, the Richardsons and the Rosomons ….)

I’m happy with the reappearance of Irma but irritated that she’s given the surname of another Tyrol character.

By this point in the series, the Chalet world has contracted with little contact with outsiders (or even new girls) who don’t already have a connection with the school.

I think Jack totally over-reacts when Len and Melanie almost get caught in the storm (and I did skip this chapter on my recent read).

I like seeing the triplets together at the start of the book and their realistic (and reasonable) response to Melanie joining them. I also like the family scenes when the older twins develop more as characters.

Any why did they have to build onto St Scholastika’s? If it was big enough for a school including teaching and domestic staff, surely it was big enough for the Maynard family?

Oh, and Joey’s brisk reply to Con’s question about Julie Lucy’s career (“Oh, that’s off, of course) really annoyed me. Surely it deserved a more thoughtful reply? I can imagine that could put Con (who I always see as career-minded) right off the idea of marriage.

Author:  MJKB [ Tue Jan 27, 2009 11:22 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Future Chalet School Girl

Like JB, I wondered why the Maynard's thought it necessary to extend what was already a sizable property. Joey seems to have a veritable obsession about having the biggest of everything.
I hated the way she emotionally blackmailed the triplets into accepting her decision to bring Melanie on holiday with them. Far better to be honest and say, "We've picked up yet another stray and she's coming to Tyrol with us whether you like it or not. Anyone who objects is a spoilt, selfish, jealous middle,and Jack and I will remain sadly disappointed in her forever and ever amen." Who could stand out against that pressure?
I quite liked Melanie and thought her resentment of Ruey's closer relationship with the family very believable and natural. Thought Ruey handled the situation well too.

Author:  Pado [ Wed Jan 28, 2009 2:16 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Future Chalet School Girl

Is this the one with the exploding wine bottles? I had a good chuckle at that scene.

The rest of it, as others have said, was rather tired, though.

Author:  JS [ Wed Jan 28, 2009 8:34 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Future Chalet School Girl

Quote:
This was the first chalet book I read, and it made no real sense until I'd read the earlier book.


I think it was the last I read and correspondingly it didn't live up to expectations. That's not to say I hate it - usually I like the holiday books, but this is my least favourite of them. Maybe, as someone said above, it's because it feels so crowded.

Melanie was an annoying character, really - or at least, she was okay until she developed that irrational dislike of Ruey, which was probably okay as a plot idea but I didn't like the way it was handled. Actually, it might have been more realistic to have the arrival of Melanie as the reason for cementing the Richardsons - particularly Ruey - into the 'family'. There's nothing like a stranger for making people bunch into a unit and put aside previous resentments, as I've noticed with dogs!

Like others, I found the Irma surname thing confusing and I thought it was a bit rough that Len got into so much trouble for trying to find Melanie - think of all the times Joey went off as a kid with far more serious consequences and was rarely told off; she even got a bloomin' medal for it once!

And yes, Joey needn't have harped on about Simone's family, but don't you think that maybe EBD was just chuffed that she remembered something, anything about a character who wasn't 'clan' so just had to keep bringing it up??

Author:  Josette [ Wed Jan 28, 2009 11:59 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Future Chalet School Girl

" 'For crying out loud, we've had to build onto St Scholastika's and it used to be a school!' "

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Author:  Carys [ Wed Jan 28, 2009 12:15 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Future Chalet School Girl

JS wrote:
And yes, Joey needn't have harped on about Simone's family, but don't you think that maybe EBD was just chuffed that she remembered something, anything about a character who wasn't 'clan' so just had to keep bringing it up??


Though doesn't EBD give Simone's youngest daughter two different names, one in this book and one in another? So it seems she was only good at remembering numbers and not names! :lol:

Also doesn't Joey say she refused to have another baby named after her in regard to the name of Simone's new daughter in this book? That always annoyed me! It's Simone's baby she can call her whatever she likes, though I don't think Josephine would have been my first choice.

I also found the whole explanation about Wanda's family very confusing in this book, especially how she could have had a child the same age as the triplets when her husband was in a concentration camp at the time... I may have got that bit wrong but I think that Len said there was a daughter the same age as them who died.

Author:  Sunglass [ Wed Jan 28, 2009 1:16 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Future Chalet School Girl

Carys wrote:
Also doesn't Joey say she refused to have another baby named after her in regard to the name of Simone's new daughter in this book?


Yes, she does, in that same speech to Irma:
Quote:
Then she had two boys and this summer, her small Marie Roséline came along. I refused to have another baby named after me and Tessa is Thérèse Marguérite. So the new baby is Roséline.


I mean, I can easily imagine someone getting embarrassed at having dozens of babies named after her, particularly if she happened not to like her own name, but it's hardly the most graceful way of dealing with what is, after all, a compliment from her oldest friend. But then I find Jo's manners, which I know EBD intends to be breezy and informal, really rather bad in this novel. She's the one, after all, who's been standing in what is now a private gateway, talking so loudly about the CS to a crowd of teenagers that the new owner comes out to see what's going on before recognising Joey, and within two minutes she's complaining that Irma is over-demonstrative and over-hospitable:

Quote:
“Ow! Don’t clutch me like that! My arm will be black and blue before morning! But my dear girl, it’s much too early for Kaffee und Kuchen – barely 15.00 hours. We’ll pay you a visit, but no Kaffee und Kuchen just now, please.”


And then she starts asking questions about why Irma didn't contact the CS since she left school, which seems a bit insensitive when directed at a central European who didn't get to flee to England before the war, and who turns out to have lost her entire family. (Especially when Bill or Hilda makes it very plain, quite rightly, in one of the war books, that they fear European girls who signed the Chalet Peace League declaration may have suffered for it, and/or just for having been members of an 'English' school - oddly, Joey seems to have forgotten this.)

I wouldn't notice it so much. only Joey has made Melanie, who is a shy visitor who couldn't know the circumstances, feel bad earlier on for asking an innocent question about Vater Johann's secret passage. Absolutely it was a nightmarish journey in frightening circumstances, but Melanie's not to know that, and doesn't deserve Joey behaving as though Melanie should know better than to bring it up!

To contextualise what may look uncannily like Joey-bashing - it's just that in this book, Joey seems to be incapable of recognising that everything isn't about her - that people may have their own reasons for wanting to forget the past, that they can name their babies whatever they like, or invite people for tea at three if they feel like it!

Author:  Mel [ Wed Jan 28, 2009 2:21 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Future Chalet School Girl

In reference to the size of the chalet, I believe that the previous owners knocked down the school part that Miss Browne had had built, so that the Maynards extened an ordinary sized chalet. Even so, it is very luxurious for a holiday house. Why do the girls need their own sitting room when they are never given any free time away from looking after babies and playing paper games with Jo? There is something in this book that reminds me of EBD's strange attitude to weather, especially heat - Melanie can't cope with the heat by the lake, but there are so many other instances - Jo doesn't like the New Forest, the Millies can't cope on a lower shelf of the Alp and as for rain!

Author:  JB [ Wed Jan 28, 2009 7:38 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Future Chalet School Girl

Quote:
I also found the whole explanation about Wanda's family very confusing in this book, especially how she could have had a child the same age as the triplets when her husband was in a concentration camp at the time... I may have got that bit wrong but I think that Len said there was a daughter the same age as them who died.


You're right - and I thought the same thing. Also, didn't it miss out Emmie Joanna, the baby Wanda had shortly after Friedel's return and was named after the Linders?

Author:  Nightwing [ Wed Jan 28, 2009 7:41 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Future Chalet School Girl

Carys wrote:
I also found the whole explanation about Wanda's family very confusing in this book, especially how she could have had a child the same age as the triplets when her husband was in a concentration camp at the time...


I can think of at least one way how that could have happened... :shock:

Author:  Meg14 [ Wed Jan 28, 2009 8:45 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Future Chalet School Girl

I just wanted to say that I always felt rather sorry for Len in this book. She gets in lots of trouble for following Melanie to try and save her from a storm (which I always felt was way over the top!). Her sense of over-responsibility has clearly been fostered by Joey and Jack making her feel that all the others will copy everything she does. She tries to ask for a break from responsibility by asking not to be made a prefect straightaway (and Joey never appears to act on this although I can see this could have been an EBDism in that she forgot to write this in).

By the end of the book I was longing for Len to get to university and escape from her responsibilities and just be young and have some fun in the sixties!

Author:  Kathy_S [ Wed Jan 28, 2009 10:35 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Future Chalet School Girl

I think this is my favorite of the holiday books after Jo to the Rescue. It's a good example of EBD's using her episodic style, while still weaving a unified story.

To me, the Maynard dynamic in this book seems to have a very good balance between what ought to be -- the ideal of caring and unselfishness both within and from the family -- and imperfect efforts to achieve the same. Thus, Jo is realistic enough to know that, if the triplets were merely saddled with Melanie without being given the opportunity to accept her visit as the right thing to do, they could well have made the girl's life miserable. Sure, they grouse, and curse their consciences, as do most of us at times, but when it comes down to it only someone with a chip on her shoulder the size of Melanie's in a jealous fit could have found fault with their welcome. Plus, of course, the discussion gave us a chance to see the triplets interacting, always a plus.

Likewise, I can't think of it as "guilting" or "blackmail" if parents try to give children the sense that they trust them to stay within reasonable bounds, and that they will be disappointed (to say the least) if that trust is betrayed. In the case of Melanie's and Len's breaking physical bounds, we are startled by Jack's initial harshness because we know what was behind Len's behavior. Jack doesn't, and as soon as he hears just why Len made the trip, he is quick to apologize to Len and tell her she's done the right thing. He is also rather sweet about Melanie's fears, though perhaps not a perceptive as he could have been if he really thought a rather juvenile perception of thunder was the only problem. All in all, there is plenty of bickering, but plenty of forgiveness; a strong sense of responsibility, but also of light-hearted fun.

I found Ruey much more engaging in this volume than in her debut and title books. It's interesting that she sees a potential friend in Melanie at her worst. Although I certainly sympathize with M over the school changing and what-not, the only time a positive character trait becomes explicit in this book is in her clearing of Len, who is probably meant to be seen as honorably upholding the schoolgirl anti-tattling code by not explaining on her own, rather than being a bit of a doormat.

I also enjoyed the Irma storyline, though I wish we'd been able to delve further into her past. I always hoped it would come up in the next holiday book, as we saw friendship develop beyond the generic old school tie. Lots of drabble potential in this one!

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