The Chalet School in Guernsey

Chalet School - Complete

by Katherine Bruce

After fleeing the terrors of sm, the Chalet School has settled into its new home in Guernsey and now the second term on its island home begins. Some old friends are delighted to return to their beloved school, but in among the new arrivals is one who has a history with the school. Mélanie Kerdec was a member of a group called the Mystic M who terrorised the school some years previously, when their bad deeds culminated in the kidnapping of Sybil Russell. Now Mélanie has come as a pupil to the school she detests and is determined to show that she has by no means forgiven or forgotten the past. Even with that excitement, outside affairs cannot be ignored and the war continues to intrude as rationing affects both lessons and Guiding. An island-wide air raid drill gives the senior girls an exciting evening, and the war on the Continent leaves one mistress grief-stricken. Worse is to come as an investigator arrives to learn more about the previous term’s dramatic plane crash. When he cannot promise that the Channel Islands will be safe from future conflict, those in authority must consider leaving Guernsey to find a safe place for them to live for as long as the war lasts.

Genres: School Stories, Historical Fiction, Childrens

Paperback

Published November 1, 2020

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

For Chalet School fans, not the place to start the series. In some ways the book is in two halves, first the Melanie story then the decision to move. There’s not a unifying story to the term but it does successfully fill in the school’s story between Exile and Goes To It.

[Jane Irish Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably 3.5 stars. I didn't find this quite up to the high standard set by previous Chalet School fill-in novels. While I enjoyed it, there were a couple of places where it didn't quite ring true to me. First, I felt Melanie was a little too easily convinced — she should have taken more time to think over what she is told. And then Mr. Denny's speech did not reflect his usual Elizabethan flourishes. Otherwise, it does fill in the missing term quite well. Recommended.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mélanie Kerdec is shocked to discover her new school in Guernsey is the school she hated so much when she was part of the ‘Mystic M’ gang of children and feuded with it a few years ago in Tyrol. Will she ever learn to love the Chalet School?

Katherine Bruce does an excellent job of recounting the Chalet School’s second and last term in Guernsey. It’s a great choice to give us a plotline for most of the book which is not focused on the war, and which harks back to Tyrol without being purely nostalgic for the good old days. Mélanie and her struggles with the school are absolutely in EBD’s own style, and only a reference to Mélanie being ‘a real Chalet girl’ at last in the last paragraph of the book is lacking.

Other nice touches are Marilyn Evans’ arrival at the school as part of a cluster of extremely hardworking girls, a recurring element of later EBD books, the staff room scenes, and the very smooth integration of some relevant moments from The Chalet School Goes To It. Mélanie fades out somewhat as the story progresses, with the war and the decision to leave for Armiford taking centre stage. This book is firmly focused on the school itself, with minimum appearances from Joey, though Madge is a stronger presence, and Miss Annersley as Head - another nice element is that we’re shown Rosalie Dene settling into her role as school secretary.

My only problem with the book is that EBD’s own chronology for the interrupted timeline of the war years is problematic, with pupils aging at seemingly random and inconsistent rates, and some of Bruce’s choices as to which characters to include and where to place them really highlight these disjunctions. In particular, I just can’t believe that Evadne Lannis came back to the school after Exile - it’s true that Cornelia remains as Head Girl, and Evadne is consistently shown as somewhat between Joey and Cornelia in age. But to me, Evadne is most of all with Margia Stevens always just a little younger than Jo, and it’s impossible to believe that at a point when Jo has left school for several years and is a wife and mother, Evadne can possibly still be a schoolgirl.

Apart from this, though, this is a convincing and enjoyable fill in, particularly the Mélanie storyline, and very in keeping with the original books.

[Betsy A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a “fill-in” story to Elinor Brent-Dyer’s Chalet School series. The story covers the time between “The Chalet School in Exile” and “The Chalet School Goes to It”. It follows another fill-in book by Amy Fletcher, “A Refuge for the Chalet School”. This period of time in the Chalet series is its most interesting and exciting, as it covers the beginnings of war and the effect this has on the school. In this story, the school has relocated to Guernsey to flee the Nazis. This is their second term on Guernsey, set during the time frame of Jan-April 1940. The addition of one of the girls who was part of the “Mystic M” group which tormented the school in Austria causes some trouble at the beginning. Here we see how Rosalie Dene becomes the school secretary, Cornelia is the Acting Head Girl, and we learn of what happened to many of the people left behind when the school fled. Very little high jinks from Middles, as the story focuses on how the school navigates life on Guernsey during what was known as the “Phony War”. Eventually Miss Annersley and Madge Russell make the decision to relocate the school once again, and the story beautifully covers how this happens.

Katherine Bruce is meticulous in her depiction of life on Guernsey during this time; her intensive research shines through. She seamlessly weaves actual events of the time on Guernsey into the life of the Chalet School. Not only is this a wonderful Chalet School story, it really brings to life what it was like on Guernsey just prior to being invaded by the Nazis. This is a don’t miss addition to the Chalet School canon.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a useful fill-in, in the sense that it covers a term in the Chalet School saga in between 'Exile' and 'Goes To It'. Melanie is introduced as a bit of a rebel who has disliked the school for years, but it doesn't take long for her inevitable capitulation. The latter half of the book is about packing up to leave Guernsey, overlapping with the start of 'Goes To it'.

The setting is authentic and the writing is good. I'm glad I read it, but the characters are a tad flat, and some of the descriptions are a bit lengthy. Much of it feels as if it could have been EBD herself, but not all of it. I feel it's more intended for adults who have loved the series for years than as a new book for the original target audience (teens).

Three and a half stars, really.

Longer review here: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/...

[BJ Hal · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would give this a 3.75 rating. It actually seems to be, not quite two separate books but certainly there are two distinct strands. One in the typical Chalet School style with a young girl joining the school who had a past history with the CS and decides she doesn't like the school so has a difficult start to her school life, but as usual every thing gets sorted out in the end. The other strand, which I found more interesting, is the build up to the school's decision to relocate from Guernsey to Armiford due to the island's closeness to France and the worry of whether France would be invaded.

A good addition to the Chalet School fill in series.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

First book of the year! It’s a beautiful addition to the Chalet School universe and had me in tears at a couple of different points. I love how the author has woven together the details from The Chalet School Goes To It with the other things going on at the same time.

[Margaret Conmey · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the better fill-ins
Important time in Chalet School series but only covered briefly in original books

[Readsandeats]

A review to follow

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clearly split between two stories - the second being by far the best. The stories of escape from Nazi Germany and horrific and enthralling at the same time.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well personally I could have done without any reference to the Mystic M! I didn’t like that silly story line the first time round...and it certainly didn’t need bringing up again!

Fortunately it’s resolved quite quickly and the rest of the book covers Jan to April 1940 in Guernsey. It’s quite realistic...you get that impending sense of danger and uncertainty. In real life Guernsey was invaded by the Nazis in June 1940, so to fit in with this real life fact, the school had to move before then. Though we know what’s coming, it was well written and I especially like the addition of both Karen the cooks story and Frau Meiders escape. Enjoyable on the whole but you need to have read rest of series to understand this book. Not advisable as a stand alone story.