feather_ghyll (
feather_ghyll) wrote2018-11-01 12:13 pm
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REVIEW: Captain Anne
Captain Anne: Dorita Fairlie Bruce Sprong Books (Halycon Library)
It’s been a while since I posted, because, sadly for me, it’s been a while since I read any books. I’m going to be making up for that over the next few days, I hope and intend.
As I’ve probably said before, I came across the Springdale books by Dorita Fairlie Bruce before her Dimsie series, although they intertwine, with this book referencing a connection between Anne Willoughby and the older Dimsie, married now. So, this series, Wistaria House and Anne and Primula Mary’s friendship mean something to me, but I found I had a snarky little adult voice in my head at times as I read this.
In the opening chapter, Anne and Primula Mary are looking forward to the summer term, which will be their last at school. Anne is house captain at Wistaria House at Springdale, and her staunch pal, the livelier Prim, is a house prefect. They’re joined by the capable games prefect, Nicola, and the only fly in the ointment appears to be the news that they have a new house mistress, Miss Marlowe, who is known to have favourites.
Of course, Anne and Primula Mary’s high expectations are threatened, with Nicola fainting after the first cricket practice and turning out to have a weak heart. She nominates Primula as her replacement, before her sister whisks her out of school, but when Anne goes to see the house mistress, seeking her approval, what ought to be a rubber-stamping exercise leads to big trouble for Wistaria House and its captain.
This whole plotline was very contrived. At the least, I wondered at Miss Kerr, the headmistress, letting Miss Marlowe be a house mistress when other teachers had their doubts about her and senior girls were talking her down to each other. The idiot asks for a transfer for another girl into Wistaria House, one Selina Duncan, to replace Nicola as games captain, which Miss Kerr accepts, although she does not make Selina a prefect, which is an extraordinary position. Worse, possibly referenced in an earlier book in the series, Selina loathes Anne. The exposition of this incident and at a few other junctures is a bit leaden.
I’ve seen this plot done better, let’s just say. There is much talk about mistresses playing fair, although their ability to do so is based on the ability to read a girl’s character. In Miss Marlowe, DF-B has created a mistress who fails on that score, and although there are some places where you could make a convincing case for her skewed vision e.g. Anne appearing to argue for Primula Mary out of bias, DF-B doesn’t try very hard to do so, and it’s unconvincing that things deteriorate as they do before the headmistress is dragged in to sort it out.
The story does not just revolve around the Sixth formers and mistresses, although the two chums get the opening and closing words. There are five fourth formers and a dog, so, of course, this being DF-B, we get the dog’s point of view, which never sweeps me along with it. One of The Gang is Primula Mary’s younger sister Priscilla, who refers to her elder as ‘Young Primula Mary’ all the time, which is amusing. This Gang get into trouble and involved in the ‘Silly Duncan’ business, partly because one of their number is brought to sleep in the top dormitory with Anne, Prim and other prefects, because they can’t bear to share with sneaky Selina. Some of the Fourth Formers’ attempts to side with Anne over Selina made me chuckle, because it was classic middles madness.
As Anne and Primula worry about the house’s tone, in the midst of power struggles with Selina and her protector, one aspect that’s unusually important in the book is gardening. Anne has set her heart on being a herbalist, and her herb garden, which she’s tending as part of her botany studies and in the hope of gaining the Garden Trophy, becomes another battlefield between her and Selina. Arguably, Selina had a point that if it wasn’t entirely extracurricular, Anne shouldn’t be putting her garden up for competition against gardens girls were tending to in their free time, because Anne has been given a better and larger plot to help her, but Selina’s behaviour over the garden is indefensible. Anyway, there’s a strong sense that plant life should be treated with respect as it is alive, with quite strong language used by the more horticulturally minded girls on the issue.
Things work out for troubled captain Anne, with the help of loyal Prim, the Gang and the people they turn to, and the two friends enjoy the end of the term after a strained start. The plot is not quite worked through as well as it could be. But hey, I enjoyed getting caught up in a book after a long while.
It’s been a while since I posted, because, sadly for me, it’s been a while since I read any books. I’m going to be making up for that over the next few days, I hope and intend.
As I’ve probably said before, I came across the Springdale books by Dorita Fairlie Bruce before her Dimsie series, although they intertwine, with this book referencing a connection between Anne Willoughby and the older Dimsie, married now. So, this series, Wistaria House and Anne and Primula Mary’s friendship mean something to me, but I found I had a snarky little adult voice in my head at times as I read this.
In the opening chapter, Anne and Primula Mary are looking forward to the summer term, which will be their last at school. Anne is house captain at Wistaria House at Springdale, and her staunch pal, the livelier Prim, is a house prefect. They’re joined by the capable games prefect, Nicola, and the only fly in the ointment appears to be the news that they have a new house mistress, Miss Marlowe, who is known to have favourites.
Of course, Anne and Primula Mary’s high expectations are threatened, with Nicola fainting after the first cricket practice and turning out to have a weak heart. She nominates Primula as her replacement, before her sister whisks her out of school, but when Anne goes to see the house mistress, seeking her approval, what ought to be a rubber-stamping exercise leads to big trouble for Wistaria House and its captain.
This whole plotline was very contrived. At the least, I wondered at Miss Kerr, the headmistress, letting Miss Marlowe be a house mistress when other teachers had their doubts about her and senior girls were talking her down to each other. The idiot asks for a transfer for another girl into Wistaria House, one Selina Duncan, to replace Nicola as games captain, which Miss Kerr accepts, although she does not make Selina a prefect, which is an extraordinary position. Worse, possibly referenced in an earlier book in the series, Selina loathes Anne. The exposition of this incident and at a few other junctures is a bit leaden.
I’ve seen this plot done better, let’s just say. There is much talk about mistresses playing fair, although their ability to do so is based on the ability to read a girl’s character. In Miss Marlowe, DF-B has created a mistress who fails on that score, and although there are some places where you could make a convincing case for her skewed vision e.g. Anne appearing to argue for Primula Mary out of bias, DF-B doesn’t try very hard to do so, and it’s unconvincing that things deteriorate as they do before the headmistress is dragged in to sort it out.
The story does not just revolve around the Sixth formers and mistresses, although the two chums get the opening and closing words. There are five fourth formers and a dog, so, of course, this being DF-B, we get the dog’s point of view, which never sweeps me along with it. One of The Gang is Primula Mary’s younger sister Priscilla, who refers to her elder as ‘Young Primula Mary’ all the time, which is amusing. This Gang get into trouble and involved in the ‘Silly Duncan’ business, partly because one of their number is brought to sleep in the top dormitory with Anne, Prim and other prefects, because they can’t bear to share with sneaky Selina. Some of the Fourth Formers’ attempts to side with Anne over Selina made me chuckle, because it was classic middles madness.
As Anne and Primula worry about the house’s tone, in the midst of power struggles with Selina and her protector, one aspect that’s unusually important in the book is gardening. Anne has set her heart on being a herbalist, and her herb garden, which she’s tending as part of her botany studies and in the hope of gaining the Garden Trophy, becomes another battlefield between her and Selina. Arguably, Selina had a point that if it wasn’t entirely extracurricular, Anne shouldn’t be putting her garden up for competition against gardens girls were tending to in their free time, because Anne has been given a better and larger plot to help her, but Selina’s behaviour over the garden is indefensible. Anyway, there’s a strong sense that plant life should be treated with respect as it is alive, with quite strong language used by the more horticulturally minded girls on the issue.
Things work out for troubled captain Anne, with the help of loyal Prim, the Gang and the people they turn to, and the two friends enjoy the end of the term after a strained start. The plot is not quite worked through as well as it could be. But hey, I enjoyed getting caught up in a book after a long while.