Behind the Chalet School: A biography of Elinor M. Brent-Dyer

by Helen McClelland

  Without question, the interest and media publicity attracted by Elinor Brent-Dyer’s centenary have played a part in focusing the change of attitudes towards the girls’ school story that has been noticeable during this decade. And the numerous fan clubs that have grown up in the 1990s — supporting other writers in the genre, besides Elinor Brent-Dyer — could be considered both a symptom and a cause of this change. For one thing, the various societies have encouraged many adult fans to reveal the enthusiasm which formerly they felt constrained to keep hidden. This is made abundantly clear in the hundreds of letters sent by Chalet enthusiasts since the first publication of Behind the Chalet School in 1981, where a common theme has been the delight of the writers at finding they were not, after all, alone in their addiction. To quote just one 1990s correspondent, who wrote from Invercargill, New Zealand: ‘I have been a fan of the CS books for years (I am now 23) . . . [but], living at the bottom of New Zealand, and not liking to admit to sceptical friends that I still read “children’s books”, I [had never realised] . . . how many other adults still enjoy the stories.’ And there can be few gatherings of Chalet fans where someone doesn’t utter the words: ‘And to think I always imagined I was the only one.’

  Nor is it only among enthusiasts that things have changed. Today, Polly Goerres’ dissertation, which at the time was a pioneer in academic cirles, has a number of successors. Among them, one by a young Australian, Patrick Osborne; and an MA thesis by Juliet Gosling — who produced the 60-minute video, The Chalet School Revisited, mentioned above, and who will complete her PhD on the reasons for the popularity of the girls’ school story in 1996.

  Juliet Gosling is also one of the moving spirits in Bettany Press, an enterprising small firm which she and Rosemary Auchmuty began in 1994 with, as its first objective, the publication of The Chalet School Revisited. Since then, they have gone on to publish Visitors for the Chalet School (1995), which is Helen McClelland’s reconstruction of the story missing between The Princess of the Chalet School (no. 3 of the series) and The Head Girl of the Chalet School (no. 4). And the remarkable interest aroused by this ‘new’ Chalet School book in the national media must, in itself, be a tribute to the way ideas have changed.

  Back in the early 1980s, when Behind the Chalet School first appeared, it took the BBC well over a year to show any interest, either in the book or in what may be called the Chalet School phenomenon. In the end, a highly successful programme, featuring an interview with Helen McClelland and extracts from the books read by Kate O’Mara, was broadcast in January 1983 on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour, with two repeats, including one on Christmas Day. This was due entirely to the efforts of one producer, Pamela Howe, herself a great fan of the Chalet School, who also arranged, on 23 March 1987, for Martin Spence and Gill Bilski to appear on Woman’s Hour and talk about the Chalet School series and why the books still appeal today. But without Pamela Howe’s personal intervention it is unlikely, bearing in mind contemporary attitudes, that there would have been any reaction from the BBC.

  Whereas in the summer of 1995, when Visitors for the Chalet School appeared, it became the subject of six radio interviews within the space of barely ten days, as well as being given an excellent review in the Independent on Sunday — one, moreover, that took the story seriously, something that would have been quite unlikely during the 1970s and eighties. Just at it would then have been unthinkable for the BBC to allow a Mastermind contestant to choose for her special subject ‘The Life and Chalet School Novels of Elinor M. Brent-Dyer’, as did Barbara Inglis, a librarian from Perthshire, in 1992.

  Today, with the Chalet School still marching ahead and now even established on the Internet, it is impossible not to wonder how Elinor herself would have regarded all these latest developments. No one of course can say for certain, but Mrs Chloe Rutherford, who is now Elinor’s literary executor, is probably better qualified to speak than anyone else. Perhaps it should first be explained, in order to avoid confusion, that although Chloe shares the surname Rutherford with Elinor’s mother and her family this is purely co-incidental, and Chloe is not in fact a relative. Nevertheless, from an early age, she knew Elinor well and was much attached to her. And in April 1994 Chloe wrote a moving tribute to Elinor, which was read at the conclusion of the Hereford centenary weekend, and again at the memorial service in Reigate.

  For many of those who heard it, Chloe’s account brought Elinor to life in a quite remarkable way. In it she describes how, as a youngster, she had found Elinor’s outward appearance ‘rather daunting’, but had slowly come to realise that her ‘face of unmistakable authority’ was in fact ‘the outward mask of the working headmistress’.

  Behind that facade there lurked a complex, singleminded, lovable, clumsy, stubborn, forward-thinking, spiritual, dottily humourous personality of enormous charm and innate wisdom. Someone who almost whooped for joy and enthusiasm at the chance of encouraging and opening a young mind. . . . no old-fashioned ‘fuddy-duddy’ — but a very kind and generous woman, a mine of information and a fount of good common sense.

  As to how Elinor would have viewed the extraordinary ongoing success of her books, Chloe’s pen-portrait ends on this note:

  I know Elinor was delighted with and enormously proud of her Chalet School creations — but always in a quiet and humble way. You’d never have known that she was a highly successful and prolific author. I know she would be truly astonished at the books’ continued success with later generations. But how rewarded she would feel . . . How thrilled and deeply touched to know that somehow, within her stories of a girls’ school, she had found a deeper alchemy, and had given her readers a much more valuable gift of certain insights, perhaps a momentary resonance within a phrase, that would stay with them long after the final chapters. That, I feel has been her greatest talent, and that is why the stories continue to exert a spell. Long may it continue, and long may . . . [the] enthusiasm for her work be passed on to the many young (and not so young) minds so eager to share it.

  CHAPTER XXIII

  THE END OF THE STORY

  THE last part of the story can be quickly told. For more than seven years after her mother’s death in 1957 Elinor struggled to continue living in Lichfield House, the enormous Victorian villa which had housed her school. Eventually, towards the end of 1964, her friends Sydney and Phyllis Matthewman succeeded in persuading her to sell up and join with them in buying a house at Redhill in Surrey. Thus, by coincidence, Elinor’s days were to end as they had begun, in a shared establishment. And this household, too, was subject to certain underlying tensions. Not that the house lacked space. 56 Woodlands Road had two large and two smaller rooms on each of two floors, so there was no problem over dividing it into two independent flats, and it was agreed that Phyllis and Sydney would occupy the ground floor, while Elinor would live in the upstairs rooms.

  This, in theory, was an excellent arrangement. But in practice things didn’t quite work out; because, according to Phyllis, Elinor took to spending so much of her time downstairs with them that the Matthewmans began to feel the lack of privacy. Or, at least, Phyllis clearly did. For it can be deduced that Elinor’s affection for Phyllis was much greater than Phyllis’s for Elinor. Nor can it have helped matters that Sydney and Elinor always got on so well together. At no point was any suggestion made — by Phyllis or anyone else — that their relationship was other than totally platonic — but the two greatly enjoyed each other’s company and conversation and would spend hours discussing the many interests they had in common. As a result Phyllis seems often to have felt left out of things, and she began to resent the fact that — as she put it: ‘The only time Sydney and I could ever be alone together was when we were in bed.’

  Elinor (left) in Mumbles, south Wales, with Phyllis Matthewman in the early 1950s

  Elinor, it can safely be assumed, was completely unaware of her friend’s reactions. Nevertheless, in many ways this period cannot have been an altogether happy one for her. For one thing, her health w
as beginning to fail. And it seems that for the first time her hitherto inexhaustible vitality and enthusiam were also flagging. This certainly is the impression to be gained from Vivien Pass, Elinor’s friend during more than forty years: ‘It was sad to see her on her last visit to us [about 1967], she was so frail.’ In particular Vivien was distressed that Elinor, ‘after having had two heart attacks . . . had lost her zest for life’; and that to a certain extent ‘pain and depression had changed her disposition’.

  However, the following year must have been a better one, for in September 1968 Elinor wrote a cheerful letter (characteristically she failed to note that she had dated it ‘September 1568’), describing to a friend a week’s holiday she had spent in Hereford: ‘I had a delightful time picking up the old threads as far as I could. A week isn’t long enough to do much of that . . . but I did contrive to visit a fair number [of friends] or we met in the city.’

  But clearly this was only a temporary respite. In the following January, 1969, Sydney Matthewman mentions in a letter to ‘Armada’ that ‘A new Chalet book is on the stocks, but Elinor hasn’t felt much like writing for some time’; and he adds the comment that ‘the last one took so long that it won’t be out till the autumn’. And the book in question, Althea Joins the Chalet School, did, it seems, take almost two years to complete, for no Chalet book was published between 1967 and 1969.

  A month after this, Elinor was sent into hospital for a checkup; this (as related in another of Sydney Matthewman’s letters) revealed ‘a slightly dicky heart, high blood pressure, and a few other little oddments’. But Elinor was soon to be home again and ‘back on to the latest Chalet book’, seeming to retain some enjoyment in her writing.

  Her death, when it came on 20 September 1969, was quite sudden. On the previous evening, when Phyllis and Sydney paid their usual goodnight visit, Elinor, who was already in bed, had mentioned that she was experiencing a certain amount of pain; but she had seemed otherwise perfectly herself and ready to settle down for the night. Before they left, Sydney suggested that Elinor should say the prayers of the rosary, since he knew that this always gave her great comfort. In the morning, the Matthewmans returned to find Elinor apparently sleeping quietly, the bedclothes undisturbed around her and her rosary still clasped in her hands. She had died peacefully in her sleep.

  Her funeral was held at the Catholic Church of the Holy Family in Reigate, where, twenty-five years later, many of Elinor’s fans would gather for the service of thanksgiving mentioned in Chapter XXII. And afterwards, Sydney Matthewman wrote at some length to Mrs Joyce Thorp (then William Collins’s ‘Armada’ editor):

  I’m so glad you were able to turn up for dear Elinor’s Requiem. With Mr Chambers coming too, and the Borough Librarian and the head of the Juvenile library, we gave her a good send-off, and I’m sure she must have been pleased. I must say, a Requiem Mass is a much more satisfying memorial service than the ordinary funeral service.

  It’s a great pity she died so young — 74’s no great age these days [Elinor was in fact 75], and her mother lived to be 88 with a similar heart condition. The truth is that she hadn’t a very strong hold on life — it makes me quite angry as I go through her papers and find hundreds of letters which prove how her books gave not only pleasure but inspiration to so many people. Chambers (and perhaps you also) will probably be deluged with letters — we’ve even had some ourselves, just sent to the address given in the papers. The Times gave her a first-class notice — must have pleased her greatly as it was always her favourite paper. I thought the Telegraph was a bit mingy. The Surrey Mirror of course gave her a nice piece of the front page, but I don’t know if the Hereford Times did anything. Someone said there was a mention in the Evening Standard, but I didn’t see it.

  We are, of course, having an awful time with the clearing up — apart from anything else there’s an enormous pile of MSS . . . The day before she died, Elinor was working on [the abridgement of] The Head Girl [of the Chalet School] for you. . . . I will send it on to you tomorrow . . .

  The letter ends: ‘I suppose we shall get used to it but I’m still in the condition of “Oh, I must tell Elinor that”!’ Seven months later, in the spring of 1970, Prefects of the Chalet School,the final story in the series, was published. And it seems a fitting tribute to Elinor that her beloved Chalet School books really did continue for longer than she did herself.

  Chalet School ‘Golden Jubilee’ portrait of Elinor, 1963

  POSTSCRIPT

  Looking back over Elinor’s life, what was the measure of her real achievement? And what kind of person was the real Elinor? The following is a collage of snippets gathered from previous chapters.

  The Chalet School has become a romantic world in itself.

  Miss Brent-Dyer certainly captured the imagination of vast numbers of girls to an incredible degree.

  I know she wrote books, but my children did not care for them.

  The Chalet Series is a unique achievement.

  I think the long series got absolutely nutty.

  The Chalet School books are an entire way of life.

  The stories are apsalootly wicked.

  Miss Brent-Dyer was a wonderful teacher.

  Poor old BD, we ran rings round her.

  She was extremely kind to me and surprisingly understanding.

  As a child I didn’t like Elinor at all.

  I liked everything about her.

  A very kind and generous person.

  A very eccentric and different sort of person.

  Extremely excitable and full of enthusiasms.

  A larger than life, flamboyant sort of person.

  A very forthright person.

  She was very reserved until you got to know her.

  Her imagination really was amazing.

  She was always scribbling away all her life.

  I can see her now — sitting on a rock and telling stories.

  I always kept the salt-cellar handy.

  We didn’t expect an authoress to be ‘normal’.

  Far from pretty, but she had a very mobile countenance.

  I remember her wearing a knitted suit she had made herself without a pattern.

  She could look quite distinguished when she took the trouble.

  Her underclothing was tied up with string.

  The most peculiar things used to happen to her manuscripts; the Managing Director was not amused.

  She could make a most amusing speech — anytime.

  ELINOR WAS NOT THE KIND TO BE EASILY FORGOTTEN.

  One last comment. It was made by a child in a little group that Elinor came across by chance one day, as she was walking home from the shops. This was towards the end of her life, and she was beginning to find the steep road a little trying. So, at the top of the hill, she sat down on a wall to get her breath back. The children came up and stared at her.

  ‘Are you Elinor Brent-Dyer — who wrote all those Chalet School books?’ asked the one in front. Elinor indicated that she was. A short silence followed. Then: ‘Crumbs!’ said the child. And they all scampered off. Perhaps that remark sums up everything pretty well. And that Elinor herself should have told the story suggests that her sense of humour always remained alive.

  APPENDIX I

  BOOKS BY ELINOR M. BRENT-DYER

  La Rochelle series

  (published by W. & R. Chambers, Edinburgh)

  1. Gerry Goes to School (1922)

  2. A Head Girl’s Difficulties (1923)

  3. The Maids of La Rochelle (1924)

  4. Seven Scamps (1927)

  5. Heather Leaves School (1929)

  6. Janie of La Rochelle (1932)

  7. Janie Steps In (1953)

  Chalet School series

  (published by W. & R. Chambers, Edinburgh)

  1. The School at the Chalet (1925)

  2. Jo of the Chalet School (1926)

  3. The Princess of the Chalet School (1927)

  4. The Head Girl of the Chalet School (1928)


  5. The Rivals of the Chalet School (1929)

  6. Eustacia Goes to the Chalet School (1930)

  7. The Chalet School and Jo (1931)