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#1: Short Story: Joey's Convict Author: Róisín, Location: Ireland

Posted: Mon May 28, 2007 12:03 pm
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Thanks to the sterling efforts of Liane, this is available as a transcript here (temporary home until it moves to the normal transcripts site). This was first published in 1948 in the Second Chalet Book for Girls. There is a short summary here. 15 year old Jo is spending the Easter holidays with Mollie Maynard in England.

Do you enjoy the glimpse into a visit back to England, especially at this early stage in the series, for Joey? What about the picture presented of the Maynard's home life? We get to hear such a lot about Pretty Maids and Rolf later on, is it good to have this little fill-in to explain some details? What about Mollie's 'proposal' - how does it stand up to the other proposals in the series?

Joey is fifteen here - one year later EBD already knows that she will marry Jack (the references in Camp) - is there any hint of this here? Is it co-incidence that Jack's elder siblings (that did not survive) are also called Steve and Charles, in that order?

And the story itself - is it realistic that at the age of fifteen Jo would get so caught up in a story as to ape it? Can you believe Ralph just settling down like that and going calmly to sleep while locked in the cupboard? Laughing

Anything else you would like to draw attention to in this story, go right ahead Very Happy

#2: Author: Mel, Location: UP NORTH

Posted: Mon May 28, 2007 1:13 pm
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EBD's stories for the annuals are never very inspiring. Wasn't Tom and the convict originally in an annual too? However I always wondered what happened to Jack's other siblings. This is the first time I've heard them mentioned or named. There's not much suspense here for the reader as she gives the story away at the beginning. Jo is a very young 15 here. Why do the children always have to be directed in every activity, ie Jo is 'sent' to finish a letter. Another point - any Elsie book I have ever seen has been thick and heavy!

#3: Author: brie, Location: Glasgow, aka the land of boredom

Posted: Mon May 28, 2007 3:54 pm
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Hmm I just read that there, and doesn't Mollie marry someone called Mckenzie?

It was alright, I liked some of it, but it seemed to end too quickly or is that just me?

Was it written out of order, or did EBD actually write it around when it was (if that makes any sense!)?

#4: Author: Karry, Location: Stoke on Trent

Posted: Mon May 28, 2007 4:07 pm
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Whose Ralph Arden? Is Mollie a bigamist, having also married Ken McKenzie? Shocked

hmmm throws some bunny food about!

#5: Author: Róisín, Location: Ireland

Posted: Mon May 28, 2007 4:45 pm
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Yep, Mollie's husband is EBDismed and he is Ralph Arden in this story. I'm sure there are some drabbles bopping around with explanations as to why her husband's name changes! IIRC does it change three times over the course of the series? Rolling Eyes

This story is from 1948, and she is writing about events that happen before Princess, which was first published in 1927, so yes it was written out of sequence (unless she secreted it in a drawer for the intervening years).

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

Posted: Mon May 28, 2007 5:17 pm
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Out of all EBDs short stories, I think this and Woolen Measles are probably the two best. They're also (probably) the least EBD'd of the lot (and given the glorious screw up of Mollie Maynard's husband, that really is saying something).

I love the little glimpses into the holidays and I can certainly see 15 year old Joey putting two and two together and making at least seven of them over the convict.

It's a little bit coincidental about Jack's brothers being Stephen and Charles - but then again, there are coincidences like that in family trees in real life so it's maybe only as coincidental as me sharing names with my grandmothers!

Vis-a-vis Joey and Jack, there is a little hint in there with EBD making the point that she knows him well - though nothing terribly overt. I do wonder, though, if perhaps this was (in fact) written IN sequence but published out of sequence since the story refers to Jack as Mollie's younger brother (as he is [irrc!] throughout the Tyrol books) rather than her twin (as he is in the later books). Hmmmm...

Ray *pondering the great unknowables...*

#7: Author: claire, Location: South Wales

Posted: Mon May 28, 2007 7:43 pm
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I thought that they were named after his brothers -isn't there some comment with Mike that they have used all the family names

#8: Author: Róisín, Location: Ireland

Posted: Mon May 28, 2007 7:56 pm
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For myself, I actually really enjoyed this story. Yes, it's obvious from the beginning what the end is going to be but that isn't where the attraction lies. We see hardly anything of Joey at this age in any place but the Tyrol, and I always wondered how she would find returning to England, and an English way of life. I think it might sit a tiny bit strangely with her -> she's totally adapted to the continental way of being brought up. I know she has to be polite to Mollie and her mother, but there is a sense of obedience there that is completely lacking in the School At Joey.

I find Mollie's proposal frustrating. Just how exactly is finding him in the cupboard, asleep, going to make or break her decision over whether or not to marry him? I don't fully understand what is going on.

The little interlude where Mrs. Maynard has the visitor is very interesting. It reminds me of LMM so much, and isn't at all like EBD herself. I don't think there is anywhere else in the CS books where anyone has an attitude to the church quite like that visiting woman - or anyone who is willing to chat and gossip and bitch about church affairs like she is. It's totally realistic, but totally unEBD. I wonder where that came from?

By the way, is this the Easter before the summer where Madge does the Guiding course? Or have I mixed up my terms?

#9: Author: Liane, Location: Manchester

Posted: Mon May 28, 2007 8:41 pm
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I'm not quite sure why but I don't particularly like this one. I like the glimses of a young Joey. She seems very immature for her age though. I know the story wouldn't work any other way, but still...

#10: Author: brie, Location: Glasgow, aka the land of boredom

Posted: Mon May 28, 2007 8:45 pm
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I guess even though I know Joey is older, in School at/ Jo of/ Princess I always think of Jo as being about 12/13

#11: Author: Róisín, Location: Ireland

Posted: Mon May 28, 2007 9:42 pm
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brie wrote:

I guess even though I know Joey is older, in School at/ Jo of/ Princess I always think of Jo as being about 12/13

Ditto! I think it's because I find it hard to believe that she and Veta could be such good friends otherwise. I think EBD might have just wanted her protagonist to be pals with her princess, and she just found a way around that, although it does rankle a bit. *wandering off into Princess territory now* Embarassed

#12: Author: KB, Location: Melbourne, Australia

Posted: Mon May 28, 2007 10:22 pm
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I don't know, I never found it difficult, perhaps because EBD did write friendships between girls of different ages very well, e.g. Mary Lou and Clem Barrass.

#13: Author: JayB, Location: SE England

Posted: Mon May 28, 2007 11:22 pm
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Róisín wrote:

This story is from 1948, and she is writing about events that happen before Princess.

Isn't Joey fourteen in Princess? It's set two years after School At.

#14: Author: macyrose, Location: Great White North (Canada)

Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 12:01 am
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Brie wrote:

Quote:

I guess even though I know Joey is older, in School at/ Jo of/ Princess I always think of Jo as being about 12/13

But Jo is twelve in School and since Jo of takes place the next term she's probably twelve going on thirteen then. As for Princess, I'm not quite sure how old she is then, but since Dick got engaged to Mollie in Jo Of and they've been married for over a year in Princess, perhaps fourteen going on fifteen?

As for the story, I guess because it was the first short story of EBD's I ever read it's one of my favourites. And rereading it again today and reading other people's thoughts made me notice a few things that didn't stand out for me before. Like the names of Mollie's late brothers and sister, Steve, Charlie and Dorothy. I don't think it was a coincidence that these names were used for three children in the next generation, for two of Mollie's nephews (Stephen and Charles Maynard) and Mollie's own daughter Dorothy (Dollie for short). Also the mention of an Elsie book - a series that EBD must have liked as the books pop up quite frequently throughout the series even up to Reunion. And there are thin Elsie books. I've got the whole series, most in the Dodd, Mead editions which are thick but also some that were published by Routledge in thinner editions. As for the proposal, well, we don't actually get to hear it, but it seemed quite EBD-like by the fact that in the earlier books proposals tend to happen "offscreen" (we don't get to hear Jem propose to Madge or Jack to Jo either - I don't count the SLOC comment as an actual proposal - or Donal to Juliet). I'm still not quite sure, though, why getting locked in the cloakroom should have led to, as Ralph put it, "made Mollie tell me something I’ve been wanting to know this last ten months." Unless he wasn't sure of her feelings for him before but her rapturous greeting made them clearer?

#15: Author: jennifer, Location: Taiwan

Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 3:28 am
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Joey turns 13 in Jo of, and is fourteen in Princess.

I agree that Joey in this story comes across as much younger than 15 - her behaviour and responses are those of a child of maybe 10 or 11, not someone in their mid teens. She does come across as younger than her years in the early books. I think part of it is the fact that she's been coddled as a child, due to her illness, and part of it is her natural impulsiveness and lack of emotional self control, with a bit of her reluctance to grow up.

I could just see a 15 year old locking a suspected burglar in the closet, although Tom at 12 is more logical. However, not telling anyone about it seems a stretch - if he had been a real burglar the poor maid opening the room in the morning would have gotten smacked over the head while he made his escape.

Poor Mr Mollie Maynard - He is variously referred to as Ralph Arden, Alistair Macdonald, Mr Bennet and Kenneth Mackenzie, which I think is the worst EBDism of a name in the entire series.

Stephen was also Jack's father's name, at least when Stephen is born. In reunion Mollie says

Quote:

Dome is Dorothy-Mary after her own mother and Cis is Cicely-Jane after Kenneth's.

which makes it sound like Dorothy might be Jack's mother's name, as Mary is Mollie's??

As an aisde, I wonder if Jack's insistence on instant obedience (he's a much stricter parent than Joey) is related to his nephew's death to deliberate disobedience?

#16: Author: Alison H, Location: Manchester

Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 8:36 am
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I think it's very realistic that Joey and Jack's eldest sons would've been given Maynard family names - a lot of people name their children after relatives, and the triplets'd been named after Joey's sister and friends (although I always thought it was weird that she chose Con as a name, because she and Con Stewart never seemed that friendly).

It was a bit daft that Joey invited people she thought were escaped convicts into the house, even taking one of them by the arm, but then that was pretty mild compared to chasing after Prince Cosimo Rolling Eyes

.

And I really liked seeing Mollie throw her arms round Ralph and kiss him - most couples in the CS books are never that affectionate in front of anyone else. In fact, I'm quite surprised that EBD allowed it, especially as Mollie was only wearing her nightie and dressing gown at the time Wink

#17: Author: JayB, Location: SE England

Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 9:40 am
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Alison H wrote:

(although I always thought it was weird that she chose Con as a name, because she and Con Stewart never seemed that friendly).

Maybe it's because she needed a Catholic, and Con Stewart was available. But then Simone was there, so why not choose her? In fact, why not choose Simone over Grace Nalder?

I haven't read this story yet. But I think that Jack would probably have a big say in the choice of names for his sons, and that he'd be likely to choose family names. I wonder why they never used Robert? Much nicer than Felix, I think. Or did one of the boys have it as a middle name?

#18: Author: Lesley, Location: Allhallows, Kent

Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 11:53 am
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I think I said on another thread - I wondered if Nell Wilson, Con Stewart and Grace Nalder had all been responsible for instructing Joey prior to her own conversion to Catholicism - and that was the reason why she named the three as Godmothers to the Triplets. I don't think their names were to honour Nell or Con though - otherwise Margot should have been Grace! Laughing

#19: Author: macyrose, Location: Great White North (Canada)

Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 12:19 pm
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Jennifer wrote:

Quote:

In reunion Mollie says

Quote:

Quote:
Dome is Dorothy-Mary after her own mother and Cis is Cicely-Jane after Kenneth's.

which makes it sound like Dorothy might be Jack's mother's name, as Mary is Mollie's??

Dorothy could have been Jack's mother's name (are we ever actually told her name?) as well as his and Mollie's late sister's name. While it's less common for mothers to name daughters after themselves than fathers naming sons after themselves, it does happen. Very Happy

Maybe Robert wasn't used as a name because of its too close association with Lydia (Bob's wife) who didn't like Jo and Jack (Goes To It).

#20: Author: Gill E, Location: Monmouthshire

Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 2:41 pm
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There is another EBDism in this story that no one else has pointed out yet. The Easter holiday when Joey was 15 would have been the Easter holiday described in Head Girl as being spent at the Sonnalpe and in Salzburg, where they were involved in the Hotel fire.

#21: Author: Woofter, Location: Location? What's a location?

Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 4:33 pm
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Was that not at a half-term?

#22: Author: Caroline, Location: Manchester

Posted: Wed May 30, 2007 10:29 am
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No - it's the Easter holidays. Half-term is a single chapter describing Joey and Robin and Grizel visiting the Sonnalpe. Very little happens, but it's when Madge has the whole falling asleep with God discussion with Jo and Grizel. They then go back to the school, and the next chapter details Robin being kidnapped and Jo and Grizel rushing to the rescue. That takes a chapter, and then it's Easter - EBD covers the whole of the second half of term in about four paras, saying:

Quote:

THE REST of that term passed quietly and quickly. The girls busied themselves with their preparations for the sale, and Joey managed to content herself with her fretwork.

She remained very quiet, and was still easily upset, even when the end of term came, so that the staff were thankful that in a few days she would be safely in her sister’s care.

It's a strange book, Head Girl. It covers two terms, but it's easy to forget how much time is passing as EBD skips over large chunks of each term very lightly, barely touching on big events that in later books would get whole chapters to themselves. The sale, for instance, barely gets a mention - we just hear that it passed off very successfully, and the girls are shown the bed they are supporting when they go to the Sonnalpe at Easter.

Thinking about it, I actually like this light touch. I wonder if EBD got a bit stuck in a rut with one book per term, and felt obligated to cover the big events. When it's two terms in a book, she has the freedom to pick and choose a bit more...

#23: Author: Gill E, Location: Monmouthshire

Posted: Wed May 30, 2007 2:08 pm
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I have to admit to being very fond of Head Girl, particularly after finding the hard back edition with large sections that have been omitted from the paperback. One of the ways it maintains the family atmosphere is this integration of term time and holiday time, possibly so Madge can still play a reasonably large role despite having left the school in the previous book?

The problem I have with setting Convict in time already accounted for previously is along with the muddle about Mollie Maynard's future husband's name is that it makes it too obvious for me that it is a fill in written considerably later. However, since Joey did spend at least two if not more holidays with the Maynard family, I can believe that the events could have happened during one of these holidays. It does provide welcome additional information on the Maynard family, although I had never noticed before that it talked about Mollie's and Jack's dead siblings. I suggest that the reason the boys are called Stephen and Charles is because Stephen and Charles are the names Joey has given to her first two sons.

It does appear that EBD wished to fill in some more details on the wider Maynard family with this story and I wonder if this was possibly to give some context for the beginning of Jack and Joey's relationship, as well as to explain the odd mentions of various Maynards who do not appear in the books themselves.

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