Lessons: Part 1

Maggie Adair #3A

by Jenny Colgan, Jane Beaton

***PART ONE OF A THREE-PART SERIAL***

The unmissable first instalment of Jenny Colgan's return to the Little School by the Sea - perfect for anyone who ever dreamed of going to boarding school!

As the summer holidays start, scandal hits Downey House. The attraction between Maggie Adair, the fiery, committed English teacher at Downey House and David McDonald, a teacher at the local boys' school, has escalated - and now both are facing an uncertain future.

The girls of Downey House - mercurial Fliss, glamorous Alice and shy, dependable Simone - are facing long summers at home. But the new term is not far away - and it will bring new pupils and lots of fresh new challenges...

Genres: Chick Lit, Romance, British Literature, Cozy, Fiction, Contemporary

98 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 27, 2018

About the author

Jenny Colgan is the author of numerous bestselling novels, including 'The Little Shop of Happy Ever After' and 'Summer at the Little Beach Street Bakery', which are also published by Sphere.' Meet Me at the Cupcake Café' won the 2012 Melissa Nathan Award for Comedy Romance and was a Sunday Times Top Ten bestseller, as was 'Welcome to Rosie Hopkins' Sweetshop of Dreams', which won the RNA Romantic Novel of the Year Award 2013.

For more about Jenny, visit her website and her Facebook page, or follow her on Twitter.

Jenny Colgan has also been published under the name Jenny T. Colgan.

Reviews

[Nicola Clough · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good first part to the follow on from the original series. It's easy to read and just perfect and full of school and trouble and just a great read with good characters. Can't wait for the follow on part.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was hooked when I saw the blurb, like Malory Towers for grown-ups, and it really is.

Maggie Adair is a schoolteacher from a rough inner city comprehensive in Glasgow who swaps it all for a position at an exclusive girls' boarding school called Downey House in Cornwall.

The second book ended on a bit of a cliffhanger for Maggie and David, the English teacher from the boy's boarding school just over the hill from Downey House and book 3 starts with the fall out from those events.

I have no idea why I bought this in three parts when the book was available so I am just going to review the whole thing. Neither school is happy with what happened and David has been forced to leave, Maggie has been instructed not to contact David in any way if she wants to keep her job. Both of them face massive upheaval (which I totally won't spoil) and there is a new scholarship girl joining the school.

So if you wished that Enid Blyton had written books for adults then this lovely series could be the one for you.

[Char (lunarchar_) · Rating 4 out of 5]

So simple but so lovely. Perfect author for chilled out reading (or listening on audible)

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wasn't feeling this as much as the rest of the series - possibly because a lot of time has passed since I read the previous installments & I'm in a different headspace.

Not *bad*, except for a really weird triggering but about EDs (content warning there), but there's not a lot to it - & I'm finding most of the charcters' behaviours utterly baffling

[Theresa Derwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lessons (part 1of 3)
Author: Jenny Colgan
Publisher: Sphere books
Page count: 98pp
Release date: 27th Sept. 2018
Reviewer: Theresa Derwin

Before I dive into my thoughts on this short novel, I think you need a little background.
About ten years ago, Colgan, writing under a pseudonym, published two books; Class and Rules, centered around teachers and pupils at two boarding schools.
Recently, readers had reached out asking where this mystery writer had gone, and more importantly, what had happened to Maggie and David.
Now, I’ll be honest, I hadn’t read the two preceding books, so I missed some of the romantic build up, but it’s pretty clear from the outset, that after sharing just one kiss, David and Maggie have real feelings for each other.
Which is why ‘Lessons’ starts with David running towards the train which his girlfriend Miranda is on, accompanied by Maggie. And why Maggie pulls the cord to stop the train, leading to David’s arrest for a suspected terrorise incident. Of course, it’s nothing of the sort. It’s a wild romantic gesture, that leads to him getting the sack.
David and Maggie are both teachers at private boarding schools; one a boys’ school, the other a girls’ school. Such behaviour is not permitted.
Rather like crew on the Enterprise, fraternisation, to be polite, leads to dismissal or punishment.
Unsure of her future, but knowing she doesn’t love her fiancé Stan, Maggie returns to her family in Scotland. And is her, who is blamed and ‘utterly disgraced’ in the Glasgow community; too big for her boots, in love with a posh English bloke, too good for her own town. Yes, she becomes the villain of the piece, but is forbidden from speaking to David. The penalty would be losing that job she holds so dear.
Kids are basically described by some as this;
‘Some are,’ said Ishmael. ‘Some are savage beasts.’
As well as the trsvhers, we learn about the various pupils and the differences between David’s public school and the Downey girls. You have the posh girls and the Scholarship girl Isme who starts her lesson in the Romantics with;
‘Can I ask, is it all going to be dead white males?’
I have to admit, I chuckled at this.
Now, for those aware of current politics, particularly in popular literature and genre literature, I could almost feel Colgan beaming when she wrote this sentence.
.... nothing to see here - move along.
This contemporary short novel is fun, observant and witty.
I very much look forward to part two.

[Ann · Rating 1 out of 5]

I usually like Jenny Colgan but this was very poor. The author obviously hadn't done much research about comprehensive schools because her description of 'Philip Dean' was way off mark and very insulting to the state system. For the information of readers most comprehensives do not have whole school assemblies, its impossible, no school has a hall big enough. Usually they have year group assemblies. The students would have gone to their tutor rooms, most of the staff would have been in school the previous couple of days, there would not have been timetable issues. I cannot believe that there is a school in Devon which approximates the description in this book. There is much deprivation but I can't think there is a school that has 65% English as a second language. I could go on and on but suffice to say that it really irritated me.
Ps, just reading in the papers about a boarding school that taught its pupil the wrong book for English Literature!! Only found out as they were sitting the GCSE!! Now that's incompetence.

[Paula Nichols · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had left my book at work and after the panic attack of not having a paperback companion next to me had subsided, I realised I needed something quick, enjoyable and instant that would see me through to the next day when I could pick it up. Enter Lessons Part 1 on Kindle. OK, so I would have preferred this in book form than electronic, but since the latter doesn't exist and beggars can't be choosers, I downloaded the first part.

As always, Colgan sucks you in quickly, and the story of Maggie and her disastrous love life continues seamlessly. The boarding school girls also come back in seamlessly too, and the whole thing is like a snuggly dressing gown that hugs you! I am holding off parts 2 and 3 (mostly because 3 isn't out quite yet and I want to savour them) until my holiday in April so I can read them on the journey down, but this was a great teaser for them!

[MetLineReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this but oh so short...
No spoilers but I’m looking for a happy story and I didn’t get one.

An enjoyable story but had just got into the swing of it and it stopped... boooooo


Can’t wait for the next instalment....

[Annebeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pleasantly surprised, this third installment is actually much much better. The author wrote it ten years after the previous one and that is noticeable. There is more variety in characters' voices we hear from and I enjoyed that.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

Love Jenny Colgan books, loved the first of these “school stories” this however was really weak in comparison. I won’t be reading any others in this series.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoying this series of books. Nice light easy reading

[Irene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jenny! Why so short? Is it only because you want to write a series of six? Hm.

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audiobook

[Rory · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found the whole thing dull and uninteresting. Not a lot of real story and very little happens.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Waiting to see how this cliffhanger is resolved.

[Mishy Moto · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sweet story. Loved boarding school stories growing up, and this was a lovely read as an adult.

[E K Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alright

Nice quick little read. Something totally different from other reads. Always love what IS writes. Look forward to part two.

[Ruth Ngobi · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars! Loved it!

[Elaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was o.k., although I might try the next installment. 3☆

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed it.

[Vanessa-Ann Dowsett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh what a shame this is just a novella unlike its predecessor Class and Rules, it was such a shame. Just as you got back into the characters, it was over, shame

[Anne-marie Cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great to have Maggie Adair back

I Loved Class and Rules so I couldn't wait for the next instalment. It didn't disappoint. Picking up where Rules left off, Maggie has to decide if she should go home to Glasgow and marry Stan or be true to her heart.
After summer is over Maggie goes back to Downey House to do the job she loves, working with the girls she has got to know and some new faces.
I can't wait for December for part 2.

[Iona Sharma]

No star rating because this is only part 1 of the book, but it's just as delicious-like-candy as the others were, and retains the eye for class politics.