Is SCHOOL AT THE CHALET the first book Elinor Brent-Dyer published?
No, that was GERRY GOES TO SCHOOL, published in 1922, which became
the first of the La Rochelle series.
SCHOOL AT THE CHALET was her fourth publication in 1925.
How many books are there in the Chalet School series?
There were 58 published as hardbacks. Three of these, CHALET SCHOOL AND THE LINTONS, THE NEW CHALET SCHOOL and A GENIUS AT THE CHALET SCHOOL, were separated into two books when they were reissued as paperbacks.
Their second halves are A REBEL AT THE CHALET SCHOOL, A UNITED CHALET SCHOOL and CHALET SCHOOL FETE respectively.
THE CHALET SCHOOL AND ROSALIE was only published in paperback, making the total up to 62 paperback "stories".
In addition to these, she also wrote THE CHALET SCHOOL COOKBOOK and three annuals, the CHALET BOOKS FOR GIRLS but these are no longer in print.
Go to the Library to read the synopses of many of these books.
Did Elinor Brent-Dyer write anything other than the Chalet School series?
She wrote 37 other children's books including the seven books in
the La Rochelle series, which is her next longest series. She brought many
of the characters from these, including the Lucys, Chesters and Ozannes into
the Chalet School series.
Some of her other children's books include geography readers, intended as a bit more interesting than a text book.
Did she only write books for schoolgirls?
Until the late 1990s, it was thought that she only wrote for school-age
readers, both girls and boys.
However in 1995 it was discovered that she also wrote JEAN OF STORMS, an adult novel that was serialised in the Shields Gazette, her local newspaper, in 1930, and it is the only story she set in the area she grew up in. It was published as a complete book by Bettany Press in 1996.
Has anyone else written, and published, a Chalet School book?
Helen McClelland, Elinor Brent-Dyer's biographer, wrote VISITORS
FOR THE CHALET SCHOOL, the missing book between PRINCESS OF THE CHALET SCHOOL
and HEAD GIRL AT THE CHALET SCHOOL, based on Elinor Brent-Dyer's notes. This
was originally printed by Bettany
Press in 1996 and it was published as a part of the series by HarperCollins
in 2000.
There are now quite a few fill-in and continuation stories, some of which may be out of print. For a complete list, go to the Continuations and Fill-Ins Page in the Library.
Do Briesau, Howells Village and Görnetz Platz and the other homes of the school exist?
Many are based on places we know she visited or lived in, but adapted
to suit her purposes and disguise them. EBD appears to have gone on holiday
to the Austrian Tirol in 1924, a fairly cheap place then, and stayed in a
village called Pertisau, on the side of the lake Achensee. These became the
Briesau and Tiernsee of the series. Many of the real names of nearby places
were kept, e.g. Buchau, Scholastika and Innsbruck.
She had visited Guernsey in 1923 and had based her first three books there (GERRY GOES TO SCHOOL, A HEAD GIRL'S DIFFICULTIES and THE MAIDS OF LA ROCHELLE). Jerbourg at the south-east of the island is assumed to be the school's home.
Armiford is definitely Hereford, where EBD was living. Joey's drive to the railway station is still recognisable today. Howells Village appears to be Peterchurch, where Elinor Brent-Dyer taught as a governess for five years.
After this she becomes more vague about location: St Briavel's island moves from the West to the South coast of Wales between books. Görnetz Village seems to be most similar to Murren, but placed where Wengen is geographically. It is unclear whether she visited the area. If she did, it must have been before she visited the Tirol, as she did not have a passport after 1932 which may be why the descriptions are more vague.
Were the books published in order?
Only three stories and the cookbook weren't published in sequence.
MYSTERY AT THE CHALET SCHOOL was a short story in THE CHALET BOOK FOR GIRLS and wasn't published in its own right until 1994.
TOM TACKLES THE CHALET SCHOOL was serialised in the SECOND and THIRD CHALET BOOKS FOR GIRLS and was later published as a hardback out of sequence eleven years later.
THE CHALET SCHOOL AND ROSALIE is the only title to have been published in paperback first.
The correct reading order is JO TO THE RESCUE, MYSTERY AT THE CHALET SCHOOL, TOM TACKLES THE CHALET SCHOOL, THE CHALET SCHOOL AND ROSALIE, THREE GO TO THE CHALET SCHOOL.
Are all the books set at the school?
No, CHALET GIRLS IN CAMP is, not surprisingly, set at Guide camp, however it is based around the girls at the school at that point in the series.
The other books set out of school are based around Jo and her family.
Those in the series are JO TO RESCUE, JOEY GOES TO THE OBERLAND, JOEY AND CO. IN TIROL, A FUTURE CHALET GIRL and CHALET SCHOOL REUNION.
THE CHALET SCHOOL COOK BOOK also takes place out of school.
Why are there so many inconsistencies in the books?
It is partly Elinor Brent-Dyer not remembering every word or name she'd previously written and partly bad, or very little, editing when they were first published.
Among the most commonly noticed inconsistencies are Elise/Thérèse
La Pattre/Lapattre/Lepattre's name, the triplets' birth date, Jean Abbot,
Barbara Hewlett and Jack Lambert all being Inter V's form prefect in TWO
SAMS AT THE CHALET SCHOOL, and in FEUD AT THE CHALET SCHOOL, Jack and Kitty
jump over the stream, but Jack and Meg land.
How many books does Joey write?
Thirty are mentioned as published, although some are untitled. There are also a few references to books in progress.
For the extensive list, see Fen Crosbie's article in the New Chalet Club
Journal No 2, Winter 1996, The Write Thing to Do: Jo's Books. This
is one of the backnumber
issues available from the Lending Library.
How many children did Jo and Jack Maynard have?
Eleven: - the triplets Len, Con and Margot, followed by "singletons" Steve, Charles and Mike. Felix and Felicity, the first set of twins, Cecil and finally Geoff and Phil, the second set of twins. Jo does threaten quads, but they don't materialise.
Are there any more twins in the family?
Jo's brother and sister, Dick and Madge, are twins. Dick and Mollie have two sets of twins, Peggy and Rix and Maeve and Maurice. Madge and Jem only have one set: Kevin and Kester.
How many headmistresses are there during the series?
Three; Madge Bettany, Thérèse Lapattre and Hilda Annersley are the main heads.
Nell Wilson is Miss Annersley's co-head when the school is in Britain and later becomes head of the Welsen branch.
There are also two temporary heads. Miss Bubb covers whilst Hilda and Nell are in hospital in GAY FROM CHINA AT THE CHALET SCHOOL. Nancy Wilmot is acting head for a term in CHALLENGE FOR THE CHALET SCHOOL, whilst Miss Annersley is on a European education research tour.
Did any pupils get expelled?
Only two: Thekla von Sift in second half of THE CHALET SCHOOL AND THE LINTONS or REBEL AT THE CHALET SCHOOL and Betty Wynne-Davies in HIGHLAND TWINS AT THE CHALET SCHOOL
Which is the forbidden book in WRONG CHALET SCHOOL?
In the hardback it is Margaret Mitchell's "Gone With the Wind", and in the paperbacks it is "Forever Amber" by Kathleen Windsor.
Are there many changes to the paperbacks?
Most of them have been abridged or corrected in some way. Sometimes
it is the occasional word or sentence, sometimes paragraphs are cut. In THE
CHALET SCHOOL IN EXILE a whole chapter was omitted in the paperback, while
in THREE GO TO THE CHALET SCHOOL a whole story-line is cut.
There is no consistency is how they have been abridged, but the paperbacks were published out of order and over 25 years, so it's unsurprising that different editors tackled them in different ways. Usually they keep the inconsistencies.
Which were the first paperbacks to be published?
THE SCHOOL AT THE CHALET, JO OF THE CHALET SCHOOL, THE CHALET SCHOOL
IN EXILE and THE CHALET SCHOOL AND BARBARA were published in 1967.
This was the same year TWO SAMS AT THE CHALET SCHOOL was published in hardback.
The last paperbacks to be issued in paperback were JOEY GOES TO THE OBERLAND and A FUTURE CHALET GIRL in 1995.