The Chalet School Does It Again
Miss Annersley is headmistress of the Chalet School in Switzerland
The School is at the Gornetz Platz, Switzerland, with an 'English' branch at Carnbach, South Wales and a finishing branch at Welsen, a few miles down the valley from the Gornetz Platz.
Series Characters Whereabouts:
Peggy Bettany - is at Welsen and co-writes the Welsen pantomime, The Story Of The Willow Pattern
Bride Bettany - is also at Welsen
Biddy O'Ryan - is the history mistress at the Chalet School in Switzerland
Jo Maynard - is living next door to the school at Freudesheim
Len Maynard - is in Lower IV A
Con Maynard - is in Lower IV A
Margot Maynard - is in Lower IV A and firm friends with Emerence Hope (also in Lower IV A)
Beth Chester - is with the Maynards at Freudesheim as mother's help and nursery governess.
Julie Lucy - is head girl of the Chalet School in Switzerland
Mary-Lou Trelawney - has been appointed Head of the Middle School and is still leading her Gang by the nose.
Prunella Davidson's behaviour has everyone at a loss, although one or two of the more perceptive folk (including Mary-Lou, of course) believe that her over-pious demeanour may be largely pretence. Her row with Len Maynard is resolved when Len is persuaded by her mother to apologise after she recovers from flu, and the pair begin a close friendship despite the three year difference in their ages.
In the end, Prunella goes some way towards redeeming herself when she rescues Margot Maynard from Lake Lucerne, and an ensuing talk with Joey Maynard completes her transformation into an ordinary jolly schoolgirl.
Joey must also deal with her own daughter Margot, whose disobedience has led directly to her accident in the lake. Margot is struggling with 'her devil' as she calls her naughtiness, and Joey points out to her that every time she gives in to her devil, the easier it becomes to be disobedient. Margot ends by vowing to try to be good, but fears her life will be "very dull" as a result.
The incident at Lucerne has other unexpected consequences as well: the injured girls are treated at the nearby Burgerspital by Herr Doktor Courvoisier, who knows Jack Maynard slightly. As Jack later remarks to Joey, it's curious that Dr Courvoisier should then express an interest in visiting the school, "not, mark you, the San, which you might expect from a doctor, but the school". But then, as Jack goes on to observe, Bridget O'Ryan "is a pretty lass".
For the traditional Sale in aid of the San, Tom Gay has made her usual magnificent doll's house, a chalet this time, and for the second time Con Maynard wins it, guessing correctly how many of the times within it actually worked. The whole school is delighted when Con elects to donate her prize to frail little Leila Elstob, a patient at the San who lives nearby.
contributed by Christina Erskine, England __ working from a hardback edition