REVIEWS: Selected Easter reading

[feather_ghyll]

Nicky of the Lower Fourth by Evelyn Smith (Blackie & Son.) is the first book by this authoress that I’ve ever read, but I’ll certainly keep an eye out for more from now on. The tale is pretty familiar, orphaned new girl Nicolette joins the fourth form of a boarding school, the rules of conduct and the unwritten rules of the girls are occasionally mysterious and confusing. A few days after her arrival, another new girl called Philippa arrives, and being somewhat more confident and experienced, Nicky becomes her champion, which Phillippa needs as a bully named Crystal Forbes shares a dorm with both of them and is set on upsetting the weaker Philippa and getting Nicky into trouble. Part of the problem is that both girls are originals, with Nicky getting over an initial misunderstanding with the young art mistress to prove that she has abilities in that line, while the sixth discover to their pleasant surprise that Philippa is a tennis prodigy. But the two fourth formers’ burgeoning friendship and standing in the school is threatened by a tangled series of events, a lack of plain talking between them and Crystal’s mischief-making. Fortunately, the incumbent head girl and her likely successor have a good deal of sense and get to the bottom of things.

Smith is particularly good at getting into the head of her characters. We start off with Nicky, not entirely sure who’s who and what’s what, full of good intentions and needing to feel at home. Although we sometimes get an insight into the thinking of mistresses, prefects and the other girls that Nicky doesn't share, the narrow focus on Nicky broadens only slowly. Philippa satisfyingly turns out not to be a weepy clinger to Nicky and grows into a worthy best friend. There’s a real flavour to the other girls – although I was surprised that the horrible, mean Crystal didn’t get more of a comeuppance. I’d like to read a book in which, as prophesised by the present head, Agatha, Nicky and Philippa do lead the school.

Willingly to School: Mary Cathcart Borer Lutterworth Press 1976.

I have to admit to being underwhelmed. For one thing, surely it would have been more honest to subtitle it ‘A History of English Women’s Education’, because apart from rare mentions, Scotland and Wales get barely a look in, as if they had both been subject to the Anglo-Saxon invasion etc etc and all the other influences on England’s culture over the centuries. We get little mention of what was going on on the Continent after the Classical era (apart from individuals who married into the English Royal family and Napoleonic quirks) which might have made an interesting contrast and lent context.

I think the trouble is that the book sets itself up as the voice of authority (and is for the general, if interested, reader), but I found the early chapters far too broad and sweeping – Greek civilisation briskly dealt with, ditto Roman civilisation (no mention of Roman Britain though). Ditto Anglo-Saxon England and Norman England (the information about the intellectual tradition in English convents was interesting, but there was a lot of what felt like filler in the medieval portion). We then zapped through the royal eras, and the pattern of looking at special individuals and provision for the poor, with a bit of chronological jumping about was set. I know Cathcart Borer was dealing with a lot of people, but she didn’t always introduce them well, and you weren't always sure why she introduced the potted educational history of several individuals, as in were they typical or not.

The eighteenth century seemed to go on forever, and every time I finished a chapter about the time, I sighed with disappointment to discover that I was returning back to a period I really thought we’d covered. The nineteenth century got less attention and the twentieth century even less, which seems counterintuitive, given that more centralised attempts were made to ensure education for girls then.

When she offered analysis or critique (of morality, religion and social assumptions), I wasn’t always in agreement, so I found her commentary irritating, especially in the smug conclusion at the end of the book, But at least I’ve learned that the original blue stocking was male.

Torley Grange: Gwendoline Courtney Girls Gone By Publishers, 2008.

The word that comes to me after having enjoyed reading this book on a train journey is ‘jolly’. Orphaned Molly Kenrick's strict guardian dies, and at nearly fifteen she is whisked to Torley Grange, home of her uncle, aunt and a brood of lively children. Molly is offered fun, luxuries and most of all kindness, which gradually bring her out of her shell. She's good for her new family, twins Anne and Dorothy, observant Ian, Patience, Deryk, Tony and full-of-beans Bob, for, due to an accident, she is lame and cannot walk far or stand about for long, so they have to learn consideration.

The plot isn't really vital, it's the orphan finding a family romance, as Molly gets to know of her parents and other ancestors, her singing voice is appreciated, and she even gains a loyal shadow in neighbour Sybil. As soon as we meet the girls' nice governess and the new young doctor, we know what's coming there, ditto when Doctor Dick institutes a First Aid class and Ian takes to it like a duck. It's the characters and their day to day antics that charm, as a fortunate epidemic keeps the boys from their boarding school and allows Molly to get to know all the other Kenricks and their father's ward, Ian. (There's a subterranean romance there, although it never goes beyond him claiming her as a pal, the visiting Vivien's jealousy and his thoughtfulness would have meant more if this were another story.) The teasing banter and thoughtfulness of the brood is entertaining and attractive, as they come up with stunts to celebrate Hallowe'en and keep themselves entertained as the nights draw in and Christmas comes. As was highlighted in the introductions, Courtney has a real feel for the countryside. There are a few stylistic irritants, and although Molly has a miserable life between everything before her new life, Courtney overdoes her bitterness somewhat (she isn't writing about one of Frances Hodgson Burnett's heroines who needs to Learn Something, and so makes Molly a tad too unsympathetic at first, although she may be realistic in this). And as with Girls Gone By's republishing of Evelyn Finds Herself the introductions are salutory, giving a snapshot of the author, who lived until 1996, which again struck me, because I had read and enjoyed Elizabeth of the Garrett Theatre, which I now know was the second of the book's titles.