Sunday 2 August 2009

Boarding School Fantasies

I *loved* boarding school books. Still do if I'm being honest. Some of it was about the potential (very rarely realised) for spanking, but mostly it was just about the whole world. The idea of being sent of on a train to boarding school, hockey or lacrosse stick in hand, to share a dormitory with other girls, live the daily rituals of meals, prayers, uniform, lessons, games, time in the common room, thrilled me to bits. There was just something about the rituals associated with boarding school that I loved the idea of. A mysterious world full of special rites of passage and vocabulary that the new girl had to learn. I mean, what exactly was a Middle?! I also enjoyed series of books - seeing characters progress over the years from shy and timid first years, new to their houses, with crushes on prefects, to being those responsible and "elderly" prefects was always a joy. I longed to be one of those girls, part of that world. Of course, the reality is I would have hated it. Sharing a room constantly with people? Bathing in a few inches of water? Hearty runs around the hockey field? I would have been the worst boarding school girl ever. Didn't stop me loving the dream though.
If I recall rightly, my introduction to the world of boarding school books was probably Enid Blyton's St Clare's, and the infinitely superior Mallory Towers series. For some reason I think the Naughtiest Girl books mostly passed me by, I certainly don't have any real memories of them.
I loved the Antonia Forest books about the Marlow family, consisting of six sisters (and probably some brothers, though I was never much interested in them in boarding school books!), and focusing on the youngest two, twins Nicola and Lawrie's trials and tribulations and they followed their successful elder sisters to school. I also discovered the Trebizon books, by Anne Digby which I enjoyed, though they were much more contemporary than most of my previous reading. All of these were series consisting of between about 6 and 10 books.
My holy grail, however, was just around the corner, for I was about to discover an author who gladdened the heart of any serial lover: Elinor M. Brent-Dyer, the author of 58 Chalet School books. Yes, you read that right. 58! This series follows a school from its founding, with 3 pupils, through to the eldest daughters of the original first pupil leaving school. The books would never be classed as great literature, or even as particularly well written, but the appeal for me was the consistency of the characters through the years, both in terms of their personality traits, and their presence in the series. The consistency of the world as well - the "ideals" of the Chalet School and its traditions stayed the same through all the books. No, they may not have been well written, but the universe that Brent-Dyer created was an intriguing and enticing one for any young boarding school series fan.
So while my primary motivator for reading boarding school books was not the spanking references, I can't help feeling that years (and I do mean years, most of those books are still sitting in storage!) of indoctrination have left me with a taste for a certain type of school girl role play (and of course sadly departed boarding school blogs!)

8 comments:

Rebecca said...

Ah I lived Mallory Towers - I remember my Mum getting really upset when I was about 7 because I was desperate to go to boarding school!

Jessica said...

I loved Malory Towers and the Chalet School, as well as Trebizon. I wanted to go to Boarding School as well! But all my friends who went to boarding school didn't like it. So maybe I was better off at home!

Spanky said...

Good post. Maybe the Mrs. needs to read some of these.

Paul said...

Eliane, the male version wasn't in the least romantic, I can assure you.
Warm hugs,
Paul.

catherine said...

LOL - yep, Mallory Towers, St Clare's, they were both good. The best-written ones were the Dimsie series, I think - Dorita Fairlie Bruce. She was awesome. And Elsie Oxenham was pretty good, and also pretty prolific. But I learned about her from EBD because I totally lived the Chalet School too.

From a kink perspective though, have you discovered Angela Richards? If not, you have to read her stuff! She wrote 4 books about her schooldays - and the titles say it all - the Saturday Afternoon Detention, Sent for Six of the Best, the School Record and the Cane that Lost its Sting.

Happy reading :)

cath x

Scarlett said...

Trust me, Boarding school sounds so much more awesome in books than it is in real life. Also, I have this theory that the school in the Naughtiest Girl (Whiteleaf, I think) was a secret communist plot, I mean, they made them all put all their pocket money into a pot and then shared it out equally. Hello, Lenin much?

Eliane said...

@ Rebecca, Jessica, Scarlett - I would have been utterly miserable at actual boarding school. I was far too much of a home bird when I was a child. So fantasy and reality would not have matched at all!
@Cath - OMG, I'd not heard of Angela Richards. Thank you :-D

Anonymous said...

I went to an all girls' boarding school and it was really good fun. I'm definitely sending my kids to one if they want to go. I doubt you'd all have been miserable, homesick and whatnot, no one really was, we had a laugh most of the time. and we did have mfs and play lacrosse and hockey. and there was a freezing cold outdoor swimmming pool and a proper lezza games mistress, just like you'd expect. no spanking though, much to my husband's dismay L xxx