Overview

The first full-length study of this beloved children’s series, The Chalet School in the Twentieth Century moves beyond the largely generic analysis within which it has previously been discussed. Published between 1925 and 1970, the series moves from European reconciliation after the Great War, through a second global conflict to a post-war world increasingly defined by increased secularity and emerging consumerism. Reproducing cover illustrations, Miles Booy’s book examines both those issues which author Elinor M. Brent-Dyer consciously explored (such as the exceptional The Chalet School in Exile, which she sought to explain the Nazi occupation of Austria to her young readers) and those aspects of the text which must be read symptomatically. This is a book which will engage students with historical and cultural interests beyond children’s literature. With barely a midnight feast in sight, but much anxiety about social change, it’s a familiar genre, but not as you think you know it. Hurry up, new girls, class is about to begin...

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9781032892801

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Reviews

“In this new appraisal of the still immensely popular Chalet School books, Miles Booy locates Elinor Brent-Dyer’s series within the big themes of the twentieth century – internationalism, urban disenchantment, war, religion, consumerism, secularity – and shows how she sustains the underlying ethos of the books while adjusting to the huge historical shifts of the time. Full of perceptive insights, The Chalet School Books and the Twentieth Century is written with the seriousness the books deserve and the affectionate humour of someone who really knows and loves the work.” -Rosemary Auchmuty, University of Reading, author of A World of Girls and A World of Women.

Author Information

Miles Booy is an independent scholar who lives in Stafford, UK, with his wife and son. He studied at the College of St. Mark and St. John, Plymouth, and did post-graduate work at the University of East Anglia. His previous books concerned Doctor Who, Marvel Comics, and Star Wars, so perhaps this work sees him exploring his feminine side.

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