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Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
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Author:  Róisín [ Mon Dec 08, 2008 7:28 pm ]
Post subject:  Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
Synopsis here. Who is the leader of the title? This is Jack Lambert's first term and also the one where Len is a fledgling dormitory prefect. Was it really necessary for Jack to be a descendent of the Gay-Jacynth days, or could EBD have introduced her on her own merit? Is Jack's first term perhaps too comparable to how Tom's had been? Does anyone feel any sympathy at all for Margaret Twiss?

Please feel free to discuss any issue prompted by your reading of A Leader in the Chalet School :D

Next Sunday: The Chalet School Wins the Trick
Author:  Nightwing [ Mon Dec 08, 2008 8:10 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
I just read this for the first time, and there were several things that struck me about it.

Firstly, I really like the way that the triplets are portrayed in this book. All three of them are starting to mature, and I love the sisterly bond they have - that Len and Con are so supportive of Margot when she's in difficulties, and that Con is there to advise Len when she's struggling with Jack. There's also an interesting bit where Jack (Maynard) asks Joey if she can't find out what's wrong with Margot, and she says if Margot doesn't want to ask her about it she's not going to pry, which I think is another sign that the triplets are growing up.

Secondly, I thought that there were two instances of Hilda being quite unfair in this book (sorry, Hildaphiles!) The threat of demoting Margot's entire form struck me as being really unfair, no matter how much Hilda tried to legitimise it as being a lesson in form loyalty. I also thought it was really unfair that Jack had to suffer all that time while her classmates thought she was lying, but when Margaret Twiss finally confessed she had known the truth she simply got the usual "she's punished herself enough" - effectively, Margaret and Jack got the same punishment even though Margaret was the only one at fault.

Having said that, I thought Margaret was a much more interesting character than Jack. I liked that she was the first person to ask Jack's forgiveness, even before the girls Jack had been friendly with before they all accused her of lying - I think it showed her as a much stronger character than she's ever given credit for.
Author:  Alison H [ Mon Dec 08, 2008 9:56 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
I've always assumed that the "leader" of the title is Len, but I never thought she was a particularly strong leader - although, as Nightwing said, it's good to see the triplets maturing.

By this point we were getting to the stage where any major new character had to be related to an Old Girl or former mistress! Was Gill Culver still Miss Wilson's secretary (she never seems to be mentioned after The CS in the Oberland)? Surely she'd have been in touch with Gay. It's Wanda von Eschenau who gets me - I understand that it was very hard to keep track of every character, especially in the days before computers, but surely EBD could have remembered major characters like the von Eschenaus ... I know this has been discussed umpteen times and that we have to accept that Wanda must have been the daughter of Wolfram von Eschenau and an unnamed former CS girl, but the references to Wanda's mother do make it sound as if her mother was either Wanda senior or more likely Marie :? :? :? .

I don't like Jack (although it's so nice to see EBD include a character from North West England, which she hardly ever does!), but I think she's a good character in that a) she is "different" and b) that sort of domineering "gang leader" character is to be found at most schools and therefore she is very realistic.
Author:  Lesley [ Mon Dec 08, 2008 10:18 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
Nightwing wrote:
Secondly, I thought that there were two instances of Hilda being quite unfair in this book (sorry, Hildaphiles!) The threat of demoting Margot's entire form struck me as being really unfair, no matter how much Hilda tried to legitimise it as being a lesson in form loyalty. I also thought it was really unfair that Jack had to suffer all that time while her classmates thought she was lying, but when Margaret Twiss finally confessed she had known the truth she simply got the usual "she's punished herself enough" - effectively, Margaret and Jack got the same punishment even though Margaret was the only one at fault.


Think I might qualify as a Hilda fan :wink: - but there is no need to apologise - I agree with you - at least in the first instance - it sounds wonderful in principal that by punishing an entire form for the misdemeanours of some would be enough for the rest of the class to force the slackers to start working - but in the real world said slackers would just laugh at any attempts and try even harder to be demoted -'for a laugh'. I don't think EBD (and therefore Hilda) had a very realistic idea of the average teenager. I would far prefer to have seen a scene where those girls who had worked hard were rewarded and the rest punished - so the slackers could see the consequences of their actions.

The other example though - not so sure about that - exactly what had Margaret been guilty of? She had not done anything wrong herself - she had only not told all she knew - sin of omission, nothing else. Jack's punishment, though nasty, was a result of her playing so many tricks earlier in the term - otherwise no-one would have been so keen to blame her. Margaret had punished herself, she had had quite as miserable a time as Jack and she was very repentant. I would have liked to have seen more of her - and for her to have become friends with the gang.

Like Alison I don't like Jack - I think she is a self-centred bully - but she is an extremely good character.
Author:  JayB [ Mon Dec 08, 2008 11:07 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
Quote:
I thought that there were two instances of Hilda being quite unfair in this book (sorry, Hildaphiles!)


As well as the instances given, I also thought Hilda could have done more to make up to the Thirds as a whole for the undeserved punishment she gave them when she thought one of them was lying about the snake. I know she did apologise, and with older girls that might have been enough, but with eleven year olds I think a small treat for the form might have been in order.

I always assumed Len was the leader of the title. There's a fair bit said about how she's taking on OOAO's mantle and how she'll be HG one day. I too like the interaction we see between the triplets in this book.

I don't think Jack needed to be a connection of Gay and Jacynth, since we never really hear any more about it - it's not as if either of them visit the school as a result. And Jack isn't much like Gay or Ruth, who are both very kindhearted, a quality in which Jack is lacking in later books.

I also think it's odd that Gill Culver doesn't seem to have kept up with Gay or Jacynth. I know we're told that Gay is in Australia and Gill had spent some time in Kenya, so they might have lost touch in the short term, but Jacynth would be easy enough for Gill to find if she wanted to when she came home. And hasn't anyone else from the school kept in touch with Jacynth? Come to that, didn't Ruth Lambert give Gay's news when she wrote to the school about Anne and Jack?
Author:  jennifer [ Tue Dec 09, 2008 1:37 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
With the form punishment over the snake, my impression was that the form was under punishment until someone confessed. Miss Annersley didn't even consider that they could be innocent, and the snake be a relic from a previous form, or a confiscated item. So I wonder how long she would have made them suffer until one of them decided a false confession (a la Anne Shirley) as a good idea. I don't object to her decision regarding Jack, though. Jack was all outraged innocence when, over the course of a few months, she had built a reputation for nasty mischief. No, she didn't lie about it, but she was known for pulling destructive pranks on people who annoyed her.

The treatment of Margot's form, though, grates. It's particularly hard on Margot, who after a very rocky time is actually pulling herself up and working hard, only to be told that that's not enough, she has to make the *rest* of her form knuckle down if she doesn't want to flunk another year. I think it would be very likely to make her give up and backslide. As an adult, I know very well that Hilda couldn't carry out her threat, simply because the parents of the hard working girls would throw a fit over their girls being demoted to make the other girls work harder, and likely withdraw the students.

I think Jack is a good character here, it's later where her nasty streak becomes condoned that she starts to really get irritating. It's interesting, but I realized when reading the transcript that Len makes many of the same mistakes with Jack that she does with her triplets - she tries to protect them from the consequences of her actions, intervene with authority over their misdeeds, and take way too much culpability on herself. She's not so much a leader as an enabler.
Author:  Kathy_S [ Tue Dec 09, 2008 5:23 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
One of this book's strengths for me is the way EBD builds up to the snake incident. The pranks, rather than coming across as "oh, time for the requisite pranks episode" are part of a well-executed plot, and I quite like the twist of Sharlie being the culprit.

Jack is probably at her most personable here. I read her as behind in emotional development -- only just learning that other people have feelings, and that the relationship between cause and effect isn't limited to engines. I'd say Len does an excellent job at starting to turn Jack around, up to and including sitting on her after her exoneration in the snake affair.

The view of Maynard family dynamics is very positive in this volume. I also value EBD's interpretation of leadership here: guidance for the little pest, support for Margot, etc. rather than running prefects' meetings and organizing events. From my perspective, Len does a fine job here of helping to the best of her ability without being overbearing or conspicuously pious.

Margaret Twiss- She has some of the same problems as Jack, really, without benefit of a mentor. I've never really come to terms with the punishment schemes of the CS, which seem to ratchet between all-forgiving and overwhelmingly harsh on anyone in range, but don't think Margaret's treatment is unreasonable. Her concealing knowledge that would exonerate the form, all out an unreasonable rage at Jack, really is nasty -- but her suffering as she realizes what she's done, coupled with the humiliation of having the form know she's done it, is pretty stiff. Embarrassment is one of the most lasting emotions.

I enjoy hearing about Jacynth & Gay, and EBD's device for delivering it is less intrusive than bringing in characters from Millie's to deliver the news. After all, my own institution has a program for recruiting "legacies," and I expect they'd be even more common in the elite boarding school environment.

Miss Annersley -- I don't think she ever seriously considered leaving Margot and the other top students behind. In fact, she makes it clear when first describing her scheme to the staff that she intends to promote Margot to her sisters' form next term. Whether the strategy of having the seven inspire the "tail" would have worked in real life may be questionable, but it works for the story. Of course we do have Len doing part of what we might ordinarily expect Hilda to arrange in her wisdom, but -- without the head's less than perfect behavior, we'd miss the whole Len-Margot interaction. In other words, no, Hilda isn't exempt from plot device duty.
Author:  JS [ Tue Dec 09, 2008 8:41 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
I always assumed Jack was supposed to be the 'leader' as it was kind of 'her' book and because, as we know, she was soon to lead her gang by the requisite nose. I see the case for it being Len (and the structuralist in me agrees) but I took it that EBD meant it as Jack, really because she so often names a book after a new girl.

Having said that, can't stand the girl. Real pain in the neck. Both too good and too bad to be true and with a proper martyr complex to boot. This is the point in the series where I really begin to falter when it comes to re-reading.
Author:  JayB [ Tue Dec 09, 2008 11:02 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
Thinking about it, as a child I read the original hardback edition, which has Len prominently on the front cover. So I was expecting a book about Len, and it never occurred to me that the 'Leader' could be anyone else.
Author:  JS [ Tue Dec 09, 2008 11:16 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
I can see that would influence you, JayB - as a child I never quite knew who the 'Three' were in Three Go - I assume it's Mary-Lou, Clem and Verity-Anne but the cover of the library book I first read certainly didn't imply that, as far as I recall.
Author:  Tor [ Tue Dec 09, 2008 11:51 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
Currently re-reading the paperback of this at the mo, and only about 1/3 through so some of my memory may be flawed...

But saying that, already by this point EBD has used the term 'Leader' to refer to both Jack and Len. I wonder if she was being clever, and chose an ambiguous title on purpose.

We see an excellent Con in this book, as usual, and the triplets dynamics are also really nice. And I also like Margot's stumbling over explaining what she wanted as her 'future career'. Something to do with teaching and singing!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol: That pretty much sums up what I thought Nun's did when I was at primary school (and taught by Nuns).

Jack is irritating, but not hideously unlikable. Mostly because Renata and co offer fairly good foils her, rather than simple followers. But jennifer, I think that you are so right when you call Len an 'enabler', rather than a leader.

And right now, just after the cobbler's wax incident, I am feeling really sorry for Margaret. It would be a very saintly person indeed, especially at eleven, who was able to rise above such a nasty prank.

One thing that bugs me is that no-one guesses the Anne of GG scene in the prefects play! What?!!! Surely that has to be more widely read by schoolgirls than that random german book about a boy who can't spell CAT (or am i showing my ignorance of a very famous book?).
Author:  andydaly [ Tue Dec 09, 2008 2:29 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
I think Tor has hit the nail on the head there. The Leader of the title seems purposely ambiguous, and refers to all of the different ways in which one might be a leader. It could refer to Jack, who knows she is a leader, but who uses her charisma and "leaderhood" for selfish and foolish purposes, or Len, who uses her own leadership qualities to help others. It could also refer to Margot, who is expected to be a leader in her form and encourage others by example, or Con, who guides Len in her dealings with Jack, though this is done quietly and not overtly.
Author:  Sunglass [ Wed Dec 10, 2008 11:39 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
It's nice to see unobtrusive moments of modernity creep into this one - Jack liking to wear jeans and a jumper, for instance, and the mention of teenagers. Also, it contains my favourite marital come-on of the entire CS series:
Quote:
Jack crushed out the end of his cigarette and came to sit down beside her. “What a good choice I made for my brats’ mother! Well, it’s getting late and I’m about all in. I vote for bed. '


On the other hand, I genuinely don't think EBD writes from the perspective of younger girls all that well. I think she's much more of a 'natural' CS Senior-age or adult writer, or the exceptionally-mature, thoughtful or precocious younger girl - like, in their different ways, young Joey, Mary-Lou, Len. And she makes a good fist of the awkward adolescent starting to grow up. But even when she's supposed to be writing from the perspective of Jack, you never quite forget that here's an adult writing from the point of view of an eleven-year-old - moments like when she's looking around the common room for the first time:
'
Quote:
Altogether, a most satisfying room for people of their age!


which is very much an adult verdict on a children's room creeping in. Or at times when the various pranks and suspicions and punishments in IIIa are going on, EBD seems to waver between presenting the events very seriously, as they are experienced by Jack and the girls involved, and presenting them as being a bit comic, as when she tries to represent the sound of Margaret Twiss bursting into tears in the study:
Quote:
“B-but it was me!-hurp-hurp!-it was! Margaret wept loudly, her words so mixed up with her sobs that none of the girls could make head or tail of what she was saying and even the Head, with all her experience, could gather only a little here and there. “I-I s-saw Miss A-andrews-hurp!-p-put the snake-hurp-hurp!-snake into the d-drawer and I never-hurp!-said anything-hurp-hurp!-even when the rest b-blamed Jack-hurp!-for it!-hurp-hurp-hurp! Wah-hah-hah!”


She would never write, say, one of the triplets aged 15 crying as a combination of comedy sound-effect 'hurps' and 'wah-hah-hah!' because she simply takes older girls more seriously and there isn't this slightly patronising thing going on. That makes this one (and, to a lesser extent 'Three Go', although Mary-Lou is mentally older than Jack in some ways...) less enjoyable for me.

The other thing I wondered about came up slightly on some other thread recently - Peggy Burnett's unexpected bubble-bath. Why, I wondered, does she get alarmed to the point of screaming, even if it's somewhat unexpected? If Jack's mother clearly regularly uses bubblebath, then it's not unheard of for use by middle-class British women, although Kathie Ferrars seems to suggest it's somehow unlikely for Peggy:
Quote:
“Peggy!” exclaimed Kathy Ferrars. “Have you, of all people, taken to bubble baths?”


Why this response? And wouldn't Peggy have used/intended to use some form of bath salts or something in her bathwater (given that it's an after-work night bath intended to be soothing), or just plain water?
Author:  Tor [ Wed Dec 10, 2008 12:13 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
sunglass said:
Quote:
Also, it contains my favourite marital come-on of the entire CS series:
Quote:
Jack crushed out the end of his cigarette and came to sit down beside her. “What a good choice I made for my brats’ mother! Well, it’s getting late and I’m about all in. I vote for bed. '


It's the follow up from Joey that gets me...

Quote:
"Come on, and make the most of it while you have it!"


:shock: :lol: :shock:

and, yes, the bubble bath... I would like some of these magically instant foaming bubbles for my bath. Mine are never so exciting that I get engulfed by them within seconds of turning on the tap ( and I often let the water rise around me as Peggy was doing).

Poor EBD, I think she really did think bubble bath a thrillingly decadent, slightly overly sensuous thing. I bet she secretly indulged in them herself, and carried the guilt with her - hence these rather strange puritanical episodes.
Author:  Loryat [ Thu Dec 11, 2008 6:20 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
I really like this book. Sharlie's 'confession' is one of my favourite moments of the whole series. :lol:
Also in this book I do actually like Jack, she's quite an amusing character, and I think the triplet interaction is great.
This was one of the only ones I read when I was wee, so I was really pleased with myself to have got Anne of Green Gables - the rest of the books were totally random as far as I was concerned, and I also thought it was a bit strange no-one got it.
Author:  Fiona Mc [ Tue Dec 16, 2008 2:30 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
This was one of the first Swiss Chalet School books I ever read and so I have a soft spot for it. Firstly, I always though the title covered all leaders that was seen-both Jack and Len and any other minor characters that happened to lead.

In regards to Margot and being kept down that was never going to happen as Hilda herself points out when Len tackles her on Margot's behalf. She says that it is only those who continue to play up and not do well that will be kept down for another year not the entire form. Hilda says Margot mustn't have been listening and Len says probably cos she was so upset at the first bit.

That said I loved the interactions between the triplets and their friends and really like despite being told Len is a leader the fact that with the triplets group of friends there is no one particular leader
Author:  MJKB [ Tue Dec 16, 2008 8:43 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
I always saw a resemblance between Jack and Jocylen Marvel. Both characters exhibit really bad tempered behaviour. They're both treated very sympathetically by two of the leading characters in the series, Mary-Lou and Len. I think EBD took for her inspiration the prodigal son and the lost sheep when creating both characters.
Grizel is another 'difficult' character and yet I always feel far warmer towards her than either of the other two. I think its because we get the full picture of Grizell's unhappy family background and therefore excuse alot of her outrageous behaviour because of that. She's not bratty for the sake of being bratty like Jack and Joyclen, both of whom I dislike intensely.
Author:  jennifer [ Wed Dec 17, 2008 1:37 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
MJKB wrote:
Grizel is another 'difficult' character and yet I always feel far warmer towards her than either of the other two. I think its because we get the full picture of Grizell's unhappy family background and therefore excuse alot of her outrageous behaviour because of that. She's not bratty for the sake of being bratty like Jack and Joyclen, both of whom I dislike intensely.


That's a good point. I think it also helps that Grizel's prickly behaviour gets the appropriate reaction from her peers. She does have difficulty making friends, and in many ways is an outsider. Jack, in spite of all her bad behaviour and bullying tendencies, is wildly popular and the acknowledged leader of her form. Not necessarily unrealistic, thinking back to my own school days, but a lot less likely to for me to find a sympathetic character.

When you watch Jack's progression through the rest of the series, she basically has her own personal keeper in the form of Len. No other girl in her form has a full time mentor among the seniors, to answer her questions, and plead for her with the authorities, and notice when she's in a bad mood and talk her around, and cover for her misbehaviour.

And Jack is a bit unique among the badly behaved characters in that there is no reason at home why she's such a twit.
Author:  Caroline [ Fri Dec 26, 2008 3:31 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
Sunglass wrote:
On the other hand, I genuinely don't think EBD writes from the perspective of younger girls all that well. I think she's much more of a 'natural' CS Senior-age or adult writer, or the exceptionally-mature, thoughtful or precocious younger girl - like, in their different ways, young Joey, Mary-Lou, Len. And she makes a good fist of the awkward adolescent starting to grow up. But even when she's supposed to be writing from the perspective of Jack, you never quite forget that here's an adult writing from the point of view of an eleven-year-old - moments like when she's looking around the common room for the first time:
Quote:
Altogether, a most satisfying room for people of their age!

which is very much an adult verdict on a children's room creeping in.


Interesting point.

It occurs to me that it's actually quite unusual for EBD to choose such a young group of girls as her focus for a book - I can only think of the Highland Twins / Lavender / Tom books about Bride's peer group (and they are more 11-12-13 than ten) and Three Go as other examples of her choosing very young heroines. And there are reasons why all of those girls are not your typical ten year olds - Mary-Lou and Verity being so much with older people, the Highland Twins and their isolated upbringing etc.

Jack is supposed to be a quite normal 1950s / 1960s tomboy ten year old and it doesn't really work - perhaps because EBD never really succeeds in getting under her skin. It always reads as if we are looking on rather than taking part - I don't feel that I'm seeing the school or the other girls through Jack's eyes, for instance, which is possibly why I've always felt that Len is more the Leader of the title - because she's presented by EBD from the inside - her doubts and fears and struggles - whereas Jack is presented from the outside, as someone to be amused by rather than someone to feel empathy with.

And also, despite EBD repeatedly telling us how popular Jack is, she just doesn't come over as an attractive individual - I can quite see, for instance, how Joey comes to be so popular - EBD convincingly writes her as a charismatic, charming, in love with life, popular, live-wire of a girl. But she doesn't manage it with Jack - and so I don't quite believe in Jack's popularity. Jo, I think of as all sparkling black eyes, soft-hearted-ness and mischievious sense of fun. Jack's just as mercurial as Jo, but seems much less warm-hearted and always seems to be in a sulk about something - EBD can tell me again and again that she's popular, and have her instantly become the leader of her form, but she just doesn't convincingly convey why or how Jack acheives it. Perhaps becuase it's all tell and not show...

OK, that was waffley! :roll:
Author:  MJKB [ Mon Dec 29, 2008 8:09 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
"Jo, I think of as all sparkling black eyes, soft-hearted-ness and mischievious sense of " A quote from Caroline.
Exactly how I would describe her as a child and young adolescent. However, the image I get of the adult Joey is that of Julie Andrews in the Sound of Music, despite the difference in hair colouring and style. (Mind you, EBD's description of Joey's hair style is to long hair whatSound of Music Julie Andrew's is to short hair, both exceedingly prissy.)
Author:  Caroline [ Tue Dec 30, 2008 5:06 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
Well, yes, but I was talking about them as girls - comparing two characters who seem to be ultra popular amongst their peers when at the school, and suggesting that while I can believe it of Jo, I can't quite believe it of Jack.

I quite like the idea of Joey as Maria in TSOM, from the leading of sings songs in her golden voice, to decking the young Maynards out in frocks made from the curtains, to winning the folk music comp and leading everyone on the flight from the Nazis.

I think the guitar playing might be beyond her, though... :lol:
Author:  MJKB [ Thu Jan 01, 2009 3:04 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
I take your point. In the young Joey Bettany we have an eminently likeable character, well rounded and credible. She is sensitive, intuitive, funny, loyal and, above all, kind and compassionate, qualities lacking in Jack. Hard to understand then, how we are suppose to accept Jack as being cast from the same mould as Joey and other leaders. Just thought of something though. The two main leaders, Mary-Lou and Joey, are quite delightful as children, especially Joey. Then from about 16 onwards a slow but steady deterioration occurs. Perhaps the reverse happens to Jack and she comes into her own in adulthood.
It's interesting actually that Joey shares the same fate as heroines such as Jo March and Anne Shirley. All three are fascinating children who grow up to be uninspiring quite irritating adults, well in my opinion anyway. The one eponymous heroine whose character develops in a much more consistent pattern is Katy Carr.
Author:  JayB [ Thu Jan 01, 2009 10:45 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
Quote:
The one eponymous heroine whose character develops in a much more consistent pattern is Katy Carr.


But then Katy disappears from the series after her marriage and the focus shifts to Clover - who, imo, becomes just as irritating as Joey et al in that she's Practically Perfect In Every Way and everyone loves her.

Joy Shirley is acknowledged by the author and the other characters to be not perfect -and still everyone loves her and she gets away with inconsiderate, selfish behaviour time and time again. And Joan was always rather too good to be true.

I'm not familiar enough with the adult Dimsie to say how she turned out.

Are there any characters in any series who were interesting and likeable as girls who continue to be interesting and likeable as adults?
Author:  MJKB [ Fri Jan 02, 2009 4:10 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
I must say I always regarded the Katy books as a trilogy and never really classified Clover as part of it. The three Katy books, which deal almost exclusively with the adventures of the eponymous heroine are, in my opinion, very nearly perfect examples of classic children's literature, I only came across Clover a few years ago, on the internet actually, so never read it as a child and agree that it is a very disappointing sequel.
In reply to your other example, Joy Blythe, I think you may mean Rilla, Anne's youngest daughter. Again I agree with your point that the portrayals of Rilla and the rest of the Ingleside family are very unrealistic and quite annoying. They are depicted as being superior in all ways to every other family apart from the ones they marry into!
In fairness to EBD, she does introduce some fairly flawed individuals in her main characters' families.
I still think Katy Carr qualifies as an example of your last querie if you exclude Clover and its sequel. I've always admired the consistency of her portrayal from child to young woman. Jo March's deterioration in Little Men and Jo's Boys is utterly jarring on the other hand.
Author:  Nightwing [ Fri Jan 02, 2009 7:57 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
MJKB wrote:
I still think Katy Carr qualifies as an example of your last querie if you exclude Clover and its sequel. I've always admired the consistency of her portrayal from child to young woman. Jo March's deterioration in Little Men and Jo's Boys is utterly jarring on the other hand.


Huh. This is completely different to the way I see these two characters - different strokes, I suppose! To me, Jo doesn't 'deteriorate' - she grows up. For a long time she forgoes her own dreams (of writing) to raise her own family, and has learned enough in her own life to show compassion towards children struggling with their faults the same way that she did.

I love Katy Carr, having read that trilogy to death as a kid, but I do find her a most insipid heroine. After her first book there is practically nothing interesting about her at all, beyond a brief flash of temper in What Katy Did At School. She's completely perfect - everyone loves her and admires her, and those that don't (like Lily Page) are shown to be the ones at fault. A bit of a Mary Lou, if you will :)

As far as characters who remain likeable as adults, I'm a big fan of Tamora Pierce's books, although that's not much use if you're not into YA fantasy.
Author:  Chelsea [ Fri Jan 02, 2009 8:14 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
MJKB wrote:
In reply to your other example, Joy Blythe, I think you may mean Rilla, Anne's youngest daughter.


I assumed that JayB meant Joy from the Abbey series (since she compares her to Joan). And Joy in the Abbey is universally liked/admired despite being selfish both when we first meet her and as an adult!
Author:  JB [ Fri Jan 02, 2009 8:17 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
Quote:
In reply to your other example, Joy Blythe, I think you may mean Rilla, Anne's youngest daughter.


Joy Shirley, as mentioned in Jay B's post, is one of the Abbey Girls.

Back to Leader - I find Jack an unpleasant character and agree with Caroline that we're told not shown about her influence. I'm sure she'd have become Head Girl if the series had continued for that long yet I feel she'd have been most unsuited to the role.
Author:  MJKB [ Fri Jan 02, 2009 11:10 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
"Huh. This is completely different to the way I see these two characters - different strokes, I suppose! To me, Jo doesn't 'deteriorate' - she grows up. For a long time she forgoes her own dreams (of writing) to raise her own family, and has learned enough in her own life to show compassion towards children struggling with their faults the same way that she did." Quote from Nightwing
Ouch! That's me in my box entirely flattened, and in the knowledge that I got the characters wrong!
Author:  Alison H [ Sat Jan 03, 2009 8:47 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
Given the similarities between Jo March and Jo Bettany, I wonder if maybe the Maynards' "acquisition" of numerous wards in the later books was partly inspired by Little Men and Jo's Boys. Obviously Plumfield was a school and so that was much more realistic than taking on random teenagers whose fathers were only interested in spare exploration :lol: , but in some ways it's the same sort of idea.

Are Meg and John's twins the first twins in "GO" type books?
Author:  Tor [ Sat Jan 03, 2009 11:07 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
Quote:
Are Meg and John's twins the first twins in "GO" type books?


This is when I admit to HUGE ignorance..... (not an unusual occurrence :lol: :oops: )

I am *really* hazy over the remit of GO, but never really included Little Women under that bracket. Or for that matter Anne of GG. Or What Katy Did. I think i've always kind of assumed a boarding school was necessary!!! Can someone let me know what does and does not count as GO?

However, if LW is GO, then Meg's twins may well be the first! But presumably the twin motif must have taken off after that in some form of literature, as LMM seemed like she was taking a sly poke at some prevailing fashion for twins in making them such an awful burden for young Anne.

OT even more... I am thinking that EBd may have carried her subconcious 'borrowing' from Little Women even further than I first realised... I am considering the CS 'first family' women in age order

Eldest March = Meg = Margaret. Sweet, moral, sensible,
*Madge Bettany* (although Madge is spunkier, and would not have succumbed to Megs vanity at the ball, mostly because she would have been wearing powder anyway so as not to offend others by having a shiny nose)

Second March Girl = Jo = writer, impetuous, tom-boyish, doesn't want to grow up

*Joey* as is obvious

Third = Beth = sickly and sweet

*Robin*

Fourth = Amy = Pretty, vain, selfish, but turns out ok in the end

*Sybil*
Author:  MJKB [ Sat Jan 03, 2009 2:29 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
Still embarrassed by my recent gaffes in this discussion but couldn't resist another peek at how it's going. I don't know if 19th Century and early 20th century North American children's literature is under the remit of GO lit but I've always noticed copious references to it in CS and huge similarities between the two. In fact, it would be interesting to look at the links throughout the period between female writers in general. For example, LMA is definetly influenced by Jane Austen in LW imvho.
As for the twin motif, doesn't Joey often refer to Charlotte Yonge in relation to large families? I don't know too much about her books but that may be where all the twins and triplets come from.
Author:  Tor [ Sat Jan 03, 2009 2:46 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
Quote:
till embarrassed by my recent gaffes in this discussion but couldn't resist another peek at how it's going


MJKB, you mustn't be embarrassed! I had no idea who Joy Shirley was either, having never read an Abbey book, and given the Shirley surname, and the fact that Anne's first baby was Joy (or was it Joyce) AND the fact that Rilla is also annoying and selfish but generally liked makes your error about their error (if you get what i mean!) understandable.

Back on topic, judging by the last paragraph of Leader, I now think it is clear that Len is the ultimate heroine of the piece. However, I really liked the multiple leader threads that wove through it. Apart from Jack's story, what do people think about the other 'leaders' in the books. Could any of them have had the plot developed to have made them the central leader?
Author:  MJKB [ Sat Jan 03, 2009 10:22 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
Thanks Tor. I really appreciate that.
Author:  Alison H [ Sat Jan 03, 2009 11:42 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
Tor wrote:
Apart from Jack's story, what do people think about the other 'leaders' in the books. Could any of them have had the plot developed to have made them the central leader?


I think that the school's at a bit of a loss for leaders immediately after Mary-Lou leaves: Josette never really gets any "action" as Head Girl, Jo Scott is passed over for the job for some reason, and we never even get to see Ros Lilley as Head Girl (which is a real shame).

I'd say that Margot was more of a leader than any of the other main characters in the book: I can imagine people following her in the same way that they followed Jo when she was at school. Len is a nice enough person in her way but she doesn't have the charisma that "leaders" usually do. I'd love to've seen Margot go all the way from being a naughty early-teenager to being a good Head Girl, in the way that Juliet, Grizel and Elizabeth (Arnett) all did - and Joey herself did, for that matter.
Author:  Fiona Mc [ Sun Jan 04, 2009 7:47 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
What about Jane Carew or Flavia Ansell. I would have loved to see Flavia as Head Girl. She out of that crew with the exception of Samantha in Two Sams seem to have a mind of their own when compared to Jack's Gang.

I also wouldn't have minded seeing Primrose Trevoase as either Head Girl or Games Prefect as she seemed to make good as well
Author:  JayB [ Sun Jan 04, 2009 11:21 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
I think Len was destined to be Head Girl from the day she was born! Although I agree she doesn't have the drive and charisma that some other leaders had. And by keeping her in the job for nearly two years, EBD limited the opportunities for other girls.

It would have been interesting to see what happened after the triplets left. There are no obvious leaders emerging ahead of Janice & Co, who I think are only in Vb/Lower V in Prefects. And EBD limits the possibilities even more by saying in Prefects that a lot of VIb/Lower VI are leaving or going straight on to St Mildred's rather than staying on for another year at the school proper.
Author:  Cel [ Sun Jan 04, 2009 2:44 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
Alison H wrote:
Jo Scott is passed over for the job for some reason


Lots of people seem to feel Jo Scott is the 'Head Girl That Never Was' - I must say I don't really see how she's so suited for it. In the books she comes across as a very nice but quite ordinary schoolgirl - average at lessons but hard-working, content to be one of the gang - not that these are bad qualities at all, or would make her unsuitable as a Real World head girl, but she's not at all in the mould of a true Chalet School leader. Maybe a good Second Prefect, though.

As for Katy Carr, for me she undergoes the most dramatic change of any in that canon - the Katy of the first half of What Katy Did is a completely different girl to that of the rest of the books, I think it's much less realistic than the changes undergone by either Jo (Maynard or March). (I'm still a huge fan of the Susan Coolidge books, by the way).
Author:  Lesley [ Sun Jan 04, 2009 4:38 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
I think Jo Scott would have been a far more realistic Head Girl than Maeve Bettany who describes herself as not very good at her lessons and, as far as I'm aware, didn't hold the post of Form Prefect in any of her classes. Jo was Form Prefect for two or three years and that is thought to be the perfect grounding for Head Girl - I think Peggy was told that by Miss Annersley. Jo might not have been brilliant at her lessons but she worked hard and that always seems far more admirable than someone who just swans through without any effort.

I think the only reason Maeve got the post is because EBD seemed to think that, with the exception of Sybil, (who was the devil incarnate! :wink: ) all the Bettany/Russell/Maynard clan had to be Head Girl by right.
Author:  MJKB [ Sun Jan 04, 2009 6:41 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
What was the reason for the triplets extra year in the 6th form? They were (at least Len and Con were) always two or even three years ahead of the rest of their class going up through the school. It never made any sense to me that Len gets six terms as Head Girl. Even Joey only managed four. Or have I miscalculated?
Author:  JayB [ Sun Jan 04, 2009 7:54 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
I *think* Len had five terms as Head Girl - I think she took over when Rosamund Lilley had to leave after one term as HG.

The 'internal' reason for the extra year is that the triplets were, as you say, a year ahead of their age group, so they stayed on until they were eighteen.

The Real Life reason, of course, is that EBD wanted to keep them as central characters for as long as possible! She could have sent them to St Mildred's for that extra year, but she has Hilda (I think) tell them in Challenge that they are 'needed' at the school proper. And also, I think, that it's more appropriate for them to continue with their specialised, academic work in preparation for University at the School rather than at St Mildred's.
Author:  Jane [ Mon Jan 05, 2009 1:33 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
Sorry, only just caught up with this, but I always assumed (re Alison's post almost a month ago) that Wanda was Bernhilda and Kurt's daughter, which would make her a von Eschenau as well as offspring of an Old Girl. Is there any EBDism that suggests this is not so? Nothing would surprise me...
Author:  Alison H [ Mon Jan 05, 2009 2:07 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
Yes :lol: - she mentions somewhere (could be with reference to Bishop Mensch consecrating the chapel) that Bernhilda's daughters have long since left school!
Author:  Cat C [ Mon Jan 05, 2009 2:21 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
Quote:
I think the only reason Maeve got the post is because EBD seemed to think that, with the exception of Sybil, (who was the devil incarnate! :wink: ) all the Bettany/Russell/Maynard clan had to be Head Girl by right.


Hmmmmm. I always got the impression Madge's daughters were prefects but not head girls? Sybil as mentioned, but I wasn't sure Josette ever got it (because of being usually of the same vintage of OOAO), and then Ailie we don't find out about, but she's always described as 'tow-headed' which wasn't very promising.

Dick's girls all get it - Peggy and Bride get whole books about it :roll: And then Maeve later on.

And of course the triplets can't all get it!
Author:  Emma A [ Mon Jan 05, 2009 2:28 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
Cat C wrote:
Hmmmmm. I always got the impression Madge's daughters were prefects but not head girls? Sybil as mentioned, but I wasn't sure Josette ever got it (because of being usually of the same vintage of OOAO), and then Ailie we don't find out about, but she's always described as 'tow-headed' which wasn't very promising...

IIRC, Josette was HG before Mary-Lou. Ailie's description of "tow-headed" is usually suffixed with "irresponsible", which was probably more of a hindrance to her possible promotion!

I was reading Triplets not long ago, and have been thinking that, given the amount of extra coaching and prep that Len, in particular, is saddled with, it would make any normal girl scream if she was given additional head girl responsibilities along with that workload. How she managed prep on only two hours a night is a puzzle (since she seemed to have had almost no free periods!). /digression
Author:  Mel [ Mon Jan 05, 2009 3:13 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
Josette is HG after ML being slightly younger. Oddly, she is HG before Maeve who is 2/3 years older!
I agree about Len's workload, but EBD didn't really understand A levels as she had the girls keeping with the same curriculum and adding subjects. In Triplets Margot compains about the other two 'specialising' while she isn't, yet they are all preparing for University entrance. All very odd and confusing.
Author:  MJKB [ Mon Jan 05, 2009 11:07 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
Doesn't Len drop Art one year only to go out the following year on an Art expedition that ends up with her covered from head to toe in paint?
Author:  jennifer [ Tue Jan 06, 2009 2:59 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
From a logical perspective, having the triplets stay an extra year makes absolutely no sense, but their school progression doesn't make sense in the first place.

In Three Go, the triplets are 7, almost 8 and in 2b. In Changes, 2 1/2 years later, Len is ten and in Upper IVb, having progressed through five forms in just over two years. If she had progressed normally from that point, she would have finished Upper VI at age fourteen!

When the school moves to Switzerland, Len is dropped back to Lower IVa. The next year she goes to Upper IVa. Then she has an extra year in Inter V, because they are too young to be seniors, even though Josette, a year older, is already in Upper V. Then they progress normally to Upper VI, at the end of which they are 17, turning 18 in the fall. But they stay 17 for another full year, doing Upper VI again.

So Len, after leaping through five forms in two years, is then actually demoted once, held back once, and put through an extra year.
Author:  Cat C [ Tue Jan 06, 2009 1:57 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
Actually I can cut EBD more slack than that.

At my primary school (in the 80s), for example, there was a reception class, and then classes 1, 2 and 3 in the infants. As far as I remember (and I was oly age 4-7) when you started school you'd got to reception, until the September you were five - which might be 1, 2 or 3 terms, depending on when your birthday was, and how young you started.

You'd then spend two years in the infants, the second of which would usualy be in class 3, although not necessarily.

The number of classes in the school varied from time to time, but everyone spent two years in infants and four in juniors. For example I think my class progression was 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8 (there was no class 9 at the time, although there had been previously).

The general rule was that all this was done by age, but you wouldn't have one third year junior in a class which was otherwise all second or fourth years.

I've always taken divided forms at the CS - Upper and Lower IV a and b for example - to be a mixture of setting (by ability) and progression (by age). And who was where would vary according to the number of girls in the school, and their relative ages and abilities.
Author:  Mel [ Tue Jan 06, 2009 4:02 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
Because girls 'got their removes ' often in mid-year a lot of them would leap-frog up the school. I always thought the B forms were added when the school enlarged for instance when the Tanswick girls joined. I don't see them as ability groups. You just stayed down if you didn't make the grade, sometimes for ever like the Ozannes and Prudence Dawbarn who was older than Mary-Lou and yet still there when Len was Head Girl.
Author:  jennifer [ Wed Jan 07, 2009 8:35 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
Jane wrote:
Sorry, only just caught up with this, but I always assumed (re Alison's post almost a month ago) that Wanda was Bernhilda and Kurt's daughter, which would make her a von Eschenau as well as offspring of an Old Girl. Is there any EBDism that suggests this is not so? Nothing would surprise me...


Bernhilda and Kurt's children are listed in Peggy; a son, Stefan, another son (not named), Hilda, Louise, Frances, and Mariel. They are also firmly settled in the US at this point. In Future, EBD mixes her up a bit with Gisela, saying that her eldest is Natalie and her youngest is Hilda, and also claims that they are coming back to Europe.

Wanda has a younger sister, Carlotta von Escheneau, also at the school, and an eldest brother Wolfgang, who is eighteen in Prefects, so the families don't match at all.

In Redheads, Wanda refers to her Tante Marie, so she's definitely related to the original von Escheneaus.

My bet is that Wanda and Carlotta are the children of Wolfram, Marie and Wanda's younger brother. He is about seven in School At, so having an eighteen year old son by prefects would be pushing it, but an EBDism of a few years wouldn't be that unusual. :lol:
Author:  Alison H [ Wed Jan 07, 2009 9:11 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
Wolfram is described as being a very handsome youth in New/United, so maybe he was snapped up young by some lucky CS girl seeing as most of the men in the books are described as being "no film star" etc :lol: .
Author:  Tor [ Wed Jan 07, 2009 10:10 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
In Leader, when Jack looks at the honours board, she makes a mental note to find out who Wanda is related to, but EBD is silent on the subject at the time (despite going into Gretchen's mother being Frieda etc). It makes me wonder if she'd suddenly realised she'd created a rather tangled family tree, and needed a bit more time to work out Wanda's pedigree herself! :lol: :lol: :roll: :roll:

However, I *swear* I remember reading later on that Jack had found out who Wanda was related to, and that Wanda's mother was one of the early old girls. I just can't find the reference now. Gah!
Author:  JayB [ Wed Jan 07, 2009 11:20 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
Quote:
However, I *swear* I remember reading later on that Jack had found out who Wanda was related to, and that Wanda's mother was one of the early old girls. I just can't find the reference now. Gah!


Yes, I remember a reference to Wanda's mother being an old girl, and I think a mention of her having been good at games, which made me wonder if EBD wasn't thinking of her as Marie's daughter. Other than Grizel, I can't think of anyone else from that era who was known for being good at games. But I can't remember which book it was in, either.
Author:  JB [ Wed Jan 07, 2009 11:23 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
Quote:
However, I *swear* I remember reading later on that Jack had found out who Wanda was related to, and that Wanda's mother was one of the early old girls. I just can't find the reference now. Gah!


That rings a bell with me too. I don't think though that the old girl is named.

I go with the Wolfgang theory myself - and also with the one that EBD herself was confused.
Author:  Mel [ Wed Jan 07, 2009 11:48 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
I think it is Wolfram too, though I think EBD meant her to be Marie's daughter or possibly Bernhilda's. I don't think she was very good at surnames, hence the confusion with Mollie Maynard's and Con Stewart's husbands and Mollie Bettany's maiden name
Author:  JS [ Wed Jan 07, 2009 1:57 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
Doesn't it say somewhere that Wanda's (and yes, in my head, she's Wonda. not Vanta) mother had been so pretty she'd been known as 'Cinders' at school?
Author:  JayB [ Wed Jan 07, 2009 2:02 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
I don't remember anyone ever being known as 'Cinders'! But the exceptionally pretty part certainly sounds as if EBD was thinking of Wanda or Marie.
Author:  JB [ Wed Jan 07, 2009 6:40 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
Quote:
Doesn't it say somewhere that Wanda's (and yes, in my head, she's Wonda. not Vanta) mother had been so pretty she'd been known as 'Cinders' at school?


Or is that from Three Go when Wanda and Marie's daughters really are pupils at the school?
Author:  JS [ Wed Jan 07, 2009 6:51 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
Much more likely, actually - I reread the earlier books much more than the later ones so would be more likely to remember something from there. Just had a flick through some later ones and found young Wanda talking about Tante Marie and Tante Frieda - at least one of those would be a 'brevet', presumably, unless there's some complex 'by marriage' thing going on because Frieda's sister married Marie's brother? :?
Author:  Simone [ Wed Jan 07, 2009 10:06 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
Wanda must have been Burnhilda's daughter in EBD's mind if she had Marie and Frieda as aunts this would have been possible without either of them 'brevet'

ETA though I've always thought of her as Wolfgang's!
Author:  Fiona Mc [ Thu Jan 08, 2009 10:39 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
jennifer wrote:
My bet is that Wanda and Carlotta are the children of Wolfram, Marie and Wanda's younger brother. He is about seven in School At, so having an eighteen year old son by prefects would be pushing it, but an EBDism of a few years wouldn't be that unusual. :lol:


Wolfram may only be 7 in School at but is 17 in United when he should only be 14 or so.

In regards to whether or not Wanda is Marie's, Bernhilda's or Wolfram's daughter I tend to go with Wolfram. Frieda could well be a brevet aunt especially as Frieda is connected to the Von eschenau's through marriage and Bruno Von Ahlen and Friedel Von Gluck fought together in the War. I could see the Marani's, Mensches and the Von Eschenau's remaining friends and being close ones over the years, enough to call each other Tante and Onkle
Author:  MJKB [ Tue Jan 13, 2009 6:37 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
Oh what a tangled web we weave when we don't make lists!!
I like to think that Jane Carew beat Jack into Second Prefect. Now she was a girl with charisma.
Author:  JayB [ Tue Jan 13, 2009 6:45 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
Quote:
Oh what a tangled web we weave when we don't make lists!!

What's so funny is that right at the beginning of Jo's writing career (in Jo Returns), she mixes up two prefects in her story and has to do some rewriting, and as a result stops to make a list of all the characters. If only EBD had followed Jo's example!
Author:  Fiona Mc [ Tue Jan 13, 2009 7:01 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
MJKB wrote:
Oh what a tangled web we weave when we don't make lists!!
I like to think that Jane Carew beat Jack into Second Prefect. Now she was a girl with charisma.


But she was in the form above Jack so would have finished with school by the time Jack and co are in VIa. My preference from that group is Flavia Ansell
Author:  MJKB [ Fri Jan 16, 2009 2:34 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
I'd second that - if I knew for certain who she is! (Redheads?) Anything to prevent Jack becoming HG.
Author:  Fiona Mc [ Sat Jan 17, 2009 6:57 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
Flavia is the main character of Redheads and she's got plenty of commen sense and isn't easily led by Jack
Author:  Pat [ Sat Jan 17, 2009 10:46 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
Did Flavia stay long enough to be Head Girl? Isn't there some mention of lack of money after all the excitement is over?
Author:  Fiona Mc [ Sun Jan 18, 2009 4:24 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Books: A Leader in the Chalet School
She goes for a scholarship (the Evadne Lannis Scholarship I think) which she must get cos she still there over a year later and her Step-dad said he could only give her a year at most
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