Swiss School

Llanrhysydd Castle #2

by Mabel Esther Allan

Felicity is dismayed to learn that she must leave her beloved coeducational school in Wales and go to a girls' school in Switzerland.

Genres: School Stories

Paperback

First published January 1, 1954

About the author

A prolific British children's author, who also wrote under the pen-names Jean Estoril, Priscilla Hagon, Anne Pilgrim, and Kathleen M. Pearcey, Mabel Esther Allan is particularly known for her school and ballet stories.

Born in 1915 at Wallasey on the Wirral Peninsula, Allan knew from an early age that she wanted to be an author, and published her first short stories in the 1930s. Her writing career was interrupted by World War II, during which time she served in the Women's Land Army and taught school in Liverpool, but the 1948 publication of The Glen Castle Mystery saw it begin to take off in earnest. Influenced by Scottish educator A.S. Neill, Allan held progressive views about education, views that often found their way into her books, particularly her school stories. She was interested in folk dance and ballet - another common subject in her work - and was a frequent traveler. She died in 1998.

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recovering from a bad bout of pneumonia, British schoolgirl Felicity Boden is dismayed to learn that she is being sent to Switzerland for her health, and will not be allowed to return to her beloved boarding school in north Wales for at least three terms. Deeply attached to her schoolmates at Llanrhysydd Castle, and to the progressive ethos of the co-educational school, Felicity is unhappy at the idea of being a new girl at The Oberland School for Girls, where she knows no one, and where she will be forced to endure a far more traditional, rules-bound educational experience. Despite her reluctance, the sensible Felicity is soon established at Oberland, where she befriends the half-Swiss, half-English Hanni, as well as Italian-Swiss girl Tamina. The latter friendship soon causes trouble, however, as jealous Brigitta, a fiery Italian girl from Milan, whose influence upon Tamina is now being discouraged by headmistress Miss Esmond, determines that Felicity is her enemy. Jealous of the newcomer's developing friendship with her erstwhile boon companion, as well as of her many accomplishments - Felicity is an excellent student, a gifted singer, and is soon a proficient skier - Brigitta makes trouble for the British girl as often as she can. Fortunately for Felicity, she has many other friends who make her experiences in Switzerland pleasant ones...

Although connected to the earlier School Under Snowdon , which was set at Llanrhysydd - there is even a brief mention here of that book's heroine, Verity Armitage - Swiss School is less of a sequel than a related school story set in the same fictional world. I found the contrast between the reluctant Verity, who did not want to attend Llanrhysydd in School Under Snowdon , and the reluctant Felicty, who did not want to be parted from Llanrhysydd here, quite interesting. Although there are many paeans in Swiss School to the superior qualities of the educational experience at Llanrhysydd - Mabel Esther Allan is known for creating school stories set at progressive co-educational institutions where the pupils play a large role in governing themselves and the school - there is also the acknowledgement here that more traditional schools can also offer a valuable experience. In particular, Felicity learns to appreciate the opportunity to study with girls of many nationalities, and to learn a multitude of new languages. That said, I'm not sure I was convinced by her decision, at the close of the story, to remain in Switzerland for the duration of her education, rather than return eventually to Llanrhysydd, as I think her long-standing attachment to her earlier school and friends would have had more of a pull than her fondness for the new. On the other hand, perhaps Allan was attempting to emphasize that some schools are better for some pupils, at different times in their lives, and that education should not be a one-size-fits-all endeavor. However that may be, this was an engaging story, one I would recommend to lovers of the girls' school-story genre, if they can obtain it. Although the reading experience will be enhanced by having read School Under Snowdon (as well as various Allan stories also set at Llanrhysydd), it is not essential.

[Capn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favourite MEA book on Switzerland, but she still manages to enchant me with her sweet, simple and photo-realistic escapes into a world gone by. Based in the recurrent fictional village of Wildenbach near Interlaken, we follow recurrent character Felicity Boden for a couple of terms at an old-fashioned English boarding school in the Swiss Alps.

Strengths: Great descriptions of the alpine winter weather, right down to the colour of the shadows of the pine trees on the snow, the mists over the running spring-fed river, the various feelings of snow underfoot, the cold winds... exceptional, as MEA always is. I particularly enjoy her Switzerland stories for the destinations - she almost invariably visits Kandersteg in each story (it is a lovely place, and one she must have gotten to know quite well!), but this one included quick jaunts to some really out-of-the-way places through the (at the time of the story!) newly opened Lötschberg train tunnel into Wallis/Valais (the Rhone valley). I loved how she explained the Catholic/Protestant geographical divides here, and for me (who has never even considered disembarking at Goppenstein, which she described perfectly! An eerie, misty place!), the day-hike up to the extremely remote villages of Ferden and Kippel was inspiring (next spring!!!). I have also never been to Stresa, IT, and look forward to visiting there now, too. Mabel Esther Allan gives me "wanderlust" like no one else, and I cannot recommend her books more for vicarious vacations! (Please join the Mabel Esther Allan Goodreads Group where we have listed books by geographic region! So many great choices!).

Criticisms: I have many with this book. Firstly, Carola. What a half-baked character she turned out to be! We are given this tantalizing and tragic backstory explaining her current unenviable circumstances, and then this seems just to be used as an excuse for reckless behaviour which drives along certain plot points. And then her problem is suddenly resolved, and in a way that just did not ring psychologically true to me at all. Secondly, Brigitta. Now we have a real villain! And Felicity (our main character, sent away from her beloved Llanrhysydd school in Wales to convalesce in the Alpine air) is no dummy, but completely fails to develop an accurate view of Brigitta's evil intentions. I suppose Felicity is meant to be too noble and good-hearted to assume the worst, but as she eventually realises that Brigitta represents a clear and present danger to her life (the incident in the shed was terrifying to me! The thought of dying of hypothermia didn't seem to register!), she still decides not to make waves and take the high road, thereby enabling further (and potentially more fatal) wrongdoing by this same person, endangering not only her own life but those of others in the process. I really feel that Felicity, this well-respected up-and-comer, should have had more sense to at least pique the suspicions of the teachers rather than lying to protect Brigitta from any consequences. This drove me nuts - it did not demonstrate sound judgment or strength of character, but rather inexperience and immaturity. I felt that the reader was still supposed to view Felicity as the faultless heroine. (Without spoiling anything, I was not satisfied with the ending of this particular storyline, either. Probably realistic, but still disappointing given the magnitude of the transgressions). The third big criticism is the sheer number of characters. Yes, I realise that it is a school and therefore should have plenty of people, but I found it rather overwhelming to have so many 'in play' at once. When she goes to Kandersteg with secondary character Hanni Werter (a recurrent character! See the Goodreads group for more on this!) and meets ALL of the Werters and nearly ALL of the Dettelmanns, there are even more people to keep track of. And then there is a trip with Tamina (whose strange name must have been inspired by the Taminaschlucht and Tamina Therme hot springs in Graubünden!), which only introduces a few new characters, but again, here are more. Maybe it was just me, but I would have appreciated a book much longer than its scant 188 pages to develop all of these characters a little more fully.

In conclusion, I feel that Swiss School had enough characters to warrant a much longer book or even a second volume or a mini-series. Especially considering that within this book Felicity keeps in touch with friends and siblings attending the Llanrhysydd school in Wales (Swiss School is considered to be Book 2 of the Llanrhysydd Castle series), the existence of a third book might have helped to spread out the characters enough to give more depth and interplay. This book was quite messy. Not my favourite of hers. But I struggle to deem it unworthy of a read. I really believe MEA to be a hidden gem of an author, writing many decades before my birth and still after it, too! Do pick up one of her many (130 odd!) books, and please help spread the word - I strongly feel that people are missing out! ;)

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Felicity has had an illness and must reluctantly leave her beloved old school for an international one in the Swiss Alps. Sounds familiar? But this is Mabel Esther Allan, not Elinor M Brent-Dyer, and Felicity has to say goodbye to the kind of co-ed progressive school MEA thought perfect and go to a much more traditional boarding school. One does wonder if some of the details are deliberately thrown in to highlight that this is *not* the Chalet School, and it was published between EBD’s first Swiss book and the book where the Chalet School as a whole decamped to Switzerland.

Felicity turns out to be a sensible girl, perhaps a little too sensible, all-round talented and competent to be thoroughly believable or likeable, and at this Swiss School, set in a fictionalised Wengen, she meets one of my favourite MEA characters, cheerful Hanni of Three Go To Switzerland. Although Hanni does feature prominently, she is got out of the way once or twice by the author to enable Felicity to solve a problem in her unfailingly competent way.

In fact this book is possibly more strongly influenced by MEA’s favourite author Elsie J Oxenham, and the main plot can be taken as a rewrite of Oxenham’s Expelled From School, only with a sensible progressive-educated girl confronting the passionate Italian with an unreasonable hatred of her. Of course all ends well. It’s a pleasant enough book, and MEA conveys the Swiss atmosphere well, but Swiss school tales are a crowded market and this is a slight tale compared to EJO’s emotional dramas and EBS’s worldbuilding.

[Jen Pritchard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad little story, though I rather wished that Felicity's story could have happened at her old school - that school sounds far more interesting than the Swiss School.