May BaldwinRecensioni

The pupils at St Norbert's Girls' School experience their last riotous term in this tale of the reformation of their manners and character. When Irene Myers, an Australian girl with a limp and a pronounced accent, arrives at school, her independence of mind and lack of interest in the pranks the other girls like to play make her a target. In particular, the boisterous and willful Charlie (Lady Charlotte) singles her out for bullying both verbal and physical. The new mistress, Miss Lunn, also arouses the jealousy and resentment of her peers, especially the junior mistress, Miss Willis. After quite a bit of nastiness - pranks played, nationalist insults given - Irene and Miss Lunn manage to make a change at St Norbert's, pupils and teachers are all reconciled, and the book closes with the revelation that Irene is in fact Charlie's cousin, and that Miss Lunn is henceforth to be co-headmistress...

The author of some forty-five books for young girls, May Baldwin began her career in 1901, with the publication of A Popular Girl: A Tale of School Life in Germany. She went on to write quite a few school stories, many of them set on the European continent, and featuring girls from various nations becoming friends. In many ways her work, although more religious than the slightly later (and more popular) Angela Brazil, was also more cosmopolitan, and she consistently argues against prejudice between different European and European-diaspora peoples. In The Girls of St Gabriel's; or, Life at a French School for instance, her heroine is a rather nastily nationalistic English girl who learns to tolerate and even appreciate the French. Here the prejudice addressed arises, not from national difference, but from colonial ones, as Irene is targeted because she comes from Australia, and has a pronounced accent. Although the accent is eventually reformed, the narrative consistently works to show that the prejudice against Irene because of her background is misplaced and wrongheaded.

A Riotous Term at St Norbert's was published in the latter half of Baldwin's career - her final book was The Tarletons in Brittany, published in 1931 - and it is tempting to read it as an example of the author's attempts to move with the times. Her earlier books are more religious in character, and don't really concern themselves with "being a sport," in the way this one does. It's fascinating to read, because Baldwin doesn't get it quite right, and her riotous schoolgirls read less like high-spirited "jolly hockey sticks" characters, and more like nasty bullies and spoiled brats. Charlie, in particular, is an unappealing character, although she is reformed at the end. Of course, this might very well be a reflection of the author's views on the changes abroad in girls' school stories, rather than an attempt to conform to those changes. In any case, it was an engaging read, like all of Baldwin's books that I have thus far read, and is one I would recommend to fans of the author, and of the genre.

When Mrs. Cockburn and her two daughters, fifteen-year-old Dora and twelve-year-old Ivonne, are forced by reduced circumstances to rent their home in the country and take a flat in a London lodging house, the two sisters are sent to the local high school. Mrs. Cockburn, who fancies herself a cut above most of the people she now meets, has a lonely time, but forthright and kindhearted Dora makes friends wherever she goes. In particular, she wins the favor of her teacher, Miss Jeffries; becomes good friends with Constable White, the policeman who comes to her aid, when she and Ivonne think to walk to the country; and becomes the favorite of General Seaforth, an elderly gentleman who lives in their area. Her sister Ivonne, who is rather impulsive, and can sometimes be a bit lazy, has some difficulties, but these are eventually resolved happily. The story ends with the death of the general, who makes Dora one of his heirs, and the resolution of those issues which required the Cockburn family to move to London. Despite this reversal in fortune, Dora does not forget her diverse group of friends...

Published in 1906, Dora: A High School Girl is part school story and part family story, and features a winsome and admirable young heroine who never feels, despite her virtues, to be a saintly prig. Perhaps because her sister Ivonne's failings are handled with such sympathy, both by Dora and the narrative, or perhaps because the reader contrasts Dora's good nature with her mother's class-based snobbery, and concludes that the eponymous heroine could be forgiven quite a bit, for the tolerance she shows others, but somehow she retains the reader's sympathy. Ironically, given the fact that the narrative clearly encourages the reader to sympathize with Dora's more democratic impulses, rather than her mother's more patrician ones, there is still some classism here, in the sub-plot involving Alice Wall, a social-climbing nouveau-riche type, of the merchant class. This is a common enough trend, in many vintage British children's books, with the narrator and/or characters deploring snobbery on the one hand, whilst actively denigrating the social ambitions of such people as the Walls on the other. Leaving such issues aside, this was an engaging tale, one I found engrossing and entertaining. The accompanying artwork by Mabel Lucie Atwell, whose illustrations can be seen on the cover, added to my enjoyment as well. Recommended to readers who enjoy vintage British girls' school stories, and to fans of May Baldwin.

English siblings Teddy and Lily Bertram spend a two-month holiday in Italy in this children's novel from 1911. Invited to the home of their father's friend, the Conti di Bartolini, Teddy and Lily soon befriend the Conti's children - Guido, Mario, Italia and Pia - and together the companions have many exciting adventures. From attending a local fair, to which they ride in a bullock cart, to finding a long-lost document that impacts the Bartolini fortunes, their days are full. Impressed that their hosts speak so many languages, Teddy and Lily slowly discover that many of the stereotypes they have held of the Italian people are unfounded...

A much earlier book than the author's 1931 The Tarletons in Brittany, which also involves two English siblings abroad, Teddy and Lily's Adventures is also a far-more engaging story than that other. With two young protagonists that, in classic May Baldwin fashion, learn to appreciate another country and culture, through friendship with some of its people, it also explores some of the themes so dear to the author's heart. There are some humorous moments here, as when Teddy misinterprets a sign he sees to mean the conti is a bandit - this scene is depicted on the front cover of the book - or when he reflects that Italians seem less likely to whip out their knives and avenge the insults to their honor, than he thought they were prone to do. All in all, a pleasant little holiday adventure, one I would recommend to readers who enjoy vintage British children's stories, or who are fans of May Baldwin.

The orphaned Tarleton siblings - fifteen-year-old Ianthe and thirteen-year-old Tom - go to Brittany on holiday with Nanny, their seventy-year-old caretaker, in this novel from British children's author May Baldwin. Here they have many adventures with the other families staying at the Hôtel Splendide. From the snobby Mrs. Symes, who doesn't think that Nanny should eat with the rest of the guests, to the madcap Nancy Barrett, the plague of the hotel, who plays countless tricks on the other guests, there are many different types of character, and many different confrontations...

Published in 1931, The Tarletons in Brittany was the last of May Baldwin's forty-five books to be published, and it is not amongst her strongest. She explored the theme of English children in France far more adeptly, and with far greater narrative interest, in such books as The Girls of St Gabriel's; or, Life at a French School, and while there is some of her cosmopolitan outlook here, in the form of comments about the desirability of getting to know the French people, there are also some surprisingly nationalistic moments as well, such as when Tom comments about how he dislikes all of his American schoolmates. I didn't really warm to the Tarletons, as I have done to some of Baldwin's other characters, and while this was a pleasant enough holiday tale, it never involves the reader too deeply in its narrative incidents. All in all, a middling sort of book, one I would recommend chiefly to May Baldwin fans (assuming there are any, save myself).

Fourteen-year-old Ursula St. John is dismayed to learn that she is being sent to school in France, when her mother must join her father in Mauritius. Called a "stiff-necked little Englander" by her elder brother Dalhousie, Ursula has little tolerance for France and the French people, despite the fact that the St. John siblings' Aunt Nora is married to a Frenchman, the kindhearted Comte de Cantillon. Convinced that French girls are little better than stiff fashion plates, and uninterested in games, Ursula believes her time at St. Gabriel's, a school for girls near the Château de Cantillon, run by the sisters of that order, will be unpleasant. She declares, shortly after arriving at the château, that "the more I see of the French, the more I see what a very inferior nation they are." She is joined in these sentiments by her governess, the aptly-named Miss English, who travels with her to St. Gabriel's. Despite this inauspicious beginning to her year in France, Ursula eventually discovers that the French are nothing at all like she imagined. The process whereby she learns her error - becoming close friends with her fellow pupil, the French girl Marguerite de Gex; coming to a better understanding of and appreciation for her French relatives; and generally abandoning her nationalistic prejudice - forms the over-arching theme of the story. In between are holidays at the château, where Ursula imagines that there is a sinister mystery concerning the turret; various trips, either with school or with Dalhousie, who is attending a boys' school nearby; and the various ups and downs of school life, as Ursula slowly learns to fit in at St. Gabriel's.

As I mentioned in my review of A Popular Girl: A Tale of School Life in Germany, which was published in 1901, and was the author's first book, May Baldwin is a school story author known for her more cosmopolitan outlook, when compared to some of her more popular, and much more nationalistic contemporaries, such as Angela Brazil. Educated abroad herself, she maintained friendships with people all across Europe, and she frequently argued, through her books, for a better understanding between the various nations of that continent. In The Girls of St Gabriel's; or, Life at a French School, we have quite an overt discussion of some of the issues clearly dear to the author's heart, with Ursula representing the reflexive, unthinking national prejudice that Baldwin sought to interrogate, and Ursula's mother, perhaps speaking for the author, offering a better outlook. She urges Ursula, at the beginning of the book, not to reject fresh ideas or to condemn everything novel, as Miss English does. By the end of the book, through her new friendships and experiences, Ursula has come around to her mother's way of thinking, and almost completely abandoned her sneering attitude toward the French. In the final chapter of the book, she declares: "it is strange to look back and see how I hated France and all things French... I think people ought to teach geography differently; they ought to give one an idea of the peoples and manners of other countries, instead of simply teaching long lists of places, which don't tell you anything of the people who live there." What a different girl this is, from the one who declared that she "despised the entire nation" of France!

Leaving aside such issues, this was an engaging and enjoyable story, one which school-story lovers, or readers who appreciate tales of young people in new environments, will find appealing. I had the notion, picking it up, that it would be historical, no doubt because of the cover-art. Be aware, prospective reader, that the scene depicted on the front cover is actually from an episode of "dress-up," in which Ursula finds some historical costumes in the château. Recommended to girls' school story lovers in general, and to fans of May Baldwin.

The cover design is a full length image of a female tennis player in a 3-button bodice calf length dress, wearing cloche type hat, racket in right hand - elegant and delightful. This specific copy was an award book on behalf of the Primitive Methodist Sunday School, Lambley.

When Mary Curtis, known to all as Rooni, first comes to the "Cours Jeanne" school in Nice, she causes quite a bit of a stir. Raised in Africa by her guardian, the nominally English girl is unused to the ways of 'civilization,' and unconvinced of their superiority. Frank and open, with no patience or tolerance for artifice or dishonesty, she at first causes consternation with her unconventional actions, both in the French family who are her hosts, and in her fellow pupils at school, who come from various European nations. Eventually though, her bravery, kindness, and unique outlook win her friends in all areas of her life...

A difficult book to track down, May Baldwin's 1927 Rooni: A Story of School Girls in Nice was, unlike her earlier (1901) A Popular Girl: A Tale of School Life in Germany, never published in the United States. I am therefore grateful to my goodreads friend, Gundula, for loaning me her copy, enabling me to read it. Thank you, Gundula! I found Rooni's story entertaining, and thought it was an interesting exploration of the classic British girls' school story plot-device, in which a girl from some far-flung part of the globe - usually a British colony - comes back to the mother-country, and through her unspoiled ways, teaches the more "sophisticated" pupils there a better way of being. This being May Baldwin, the story is set in France rather than Britain, and the scholars are from a variety of nations, but the idea remains the same. Namely, that the sense of honor and integrity that Rooni exhibits, and which has been taught to her through her unusual upbringing, is one that the more "civilized" denizens of Europe might benefit from. Recommended to readers who enjoy girls' school stories in general, as well as to fans of May Baldwin in particular.

A born prankster, with a zest for life and a penchant for getting into trouble, the eponymous Phyllis McPhilemy was one of the most popular girls in the Priory School's Fifth Form, always coming out with some outrageous remark or dreaming up some new scheme for having fun. Convincing the school cook that a family of tramps are really Belgian refugees, and in need of succor, before fooling her into believing that some genuine refugees are really tramps, intent on stealing her kitchen ware, the irrepressible Phyl was always ruffling feathers, before putting things right again in her generous, goodhearted way. But when some of her jokes - giving away her best friend Bertha's best umbrella without asking, putting a button in the church collection plate with a saucy note - begin to reflect poorly on the school, head-girl Mildred Bushman and the other pupils of the Sixth Form decide that something must be done to rein her in. Their decision to send Phyllis to Coventry proves to be an awkward one however, as Phyllis' friends are made as unhappy as she by the development, and school genius Elvira Steele refuses point blank to observe the ban. Called off only a week after it began, the campaign to isolate Phyllis proves difficult to undo however, as the proud girl, feeling betrayed by her friends and fellow pupils, refuses to take them back into her good graces. It is only when disaster strikes, in the form of a terrible train accident, that Phyllis McPhilemy finally begins to find her place in the school again...

Published in 1915, this school story from May Baldwin is an interesting period piece in many ways, being written during the First World War, and reflecting the events of that conflict. Most of the girls at the Priory School have brothers, fathers, and uncles off fighting in the war, and feelings run high. Unlike so many other children's stories written during and about this period, however, it contains no nationalistic posturing, or demonization of the enemy. In fact, the novel opens with a discussion of the new school policy, instituted by the head-mistress Miss Cox, forbidding the pupils from making any disparaging remarks about the Germans, and stipulating that any offending pupil should pay a fine into a fund intended to help victims of the war. This is a very atypical approach indeed, and no doubt reflects Baldwin's cosmopolitan friendships with people from across mainland Europe, including Germany. It contrasts sharply with the approach taken by other school story authors of the period, notably Angela Brazil.

In addition to this historical interest, Phyllis McPhilemy also provides a fascinating glimpse of notions of schoolgirl justice, in the campaign to discipline the titular heroine. As someone who views the practice of sending people to Conventry as a form of bullying, and participation in it as a form of cowardly acquiescence to the herd mentality, I was at first thrilled by Elvira's stout refusal to join in her fellows' actions. Unfortunately, although the narrative makes it clear that she is acting from principle - and not necessarily misguided principle, either - she is eventually convinced to join the campaign, for Phyllis' own good. It's an odd contradiction, but the narrative seems to suggest that Elvira is correct, in her analysis of the moral flaws of participating in such a venture, whilst also maintaining that it is eventually beneficial for the intended victim. Needless to say, I remained unconvinced. Despite my distaste at the practice of social ostracism however, I thought the novel provided an interesting (if flawed) examination of it, as well as a fairly engaging school story. I continue to be impressed by Baldwin's work, which I first encountered in A Popular Girl, and which seems to display less of the nationalism to be found in the books of so many of her contemporaries.

Originally published in 1901, A Popular Girl was school-story author May Baldwin's very first book, and set the precedent - with its tale of a British girl, an American girl, and a German girl at school together in Munich - for many of her subsequent tales, which often featured a cosmopolitan mix of characters, were set at schools on the European continent (Germany, in this story; France, in The Girls of St. Gabriel's; Or, Life at a French School, Peg's Adventures in Paris - A School Tale and Rooni: A Story of School Girls in Nice; Italy, in Two Schoolgirls of Florence, and Russia, in A Schoolgirl of Moscow), and weren't quite as nationalistically British as so many other examples of the genre. In fact, although the eponymous popular girl of this tale is the Institut Steidel's star English pupil, Fay Fairholme - the most brilliant, and most beloved girl in the school, whose personal story forms both the introduction and the conclusion to the novel - the real heroine is the rather brash American girl, Sibyl Potter, whom Fay imagines, when first they meet, she will cure of her slangy ways, but whose heroism and loyalty instead teach Fay a much-needed lesson.

I couldn't help but wonder, as I was reading Baldwin's book, whether this third characteristic of her work - that she was rarely nationalistic, and perfectly willing to allow British girls to take second place, as heroines, to pupils from other nations - might not explain her drop in popularity as an author, as the twentieth century progressed, while others such as Angela Brazil continued to be read. It is too soon to reach any definitive conclusions, of course, as A Popular Girl was my first Baldwin, but it is an idea that is percolating at the back of my mind. Whatever the case may be, and leaving aside these questions of readership, writing, and nationalism, this was just an immensely engaging tale, and although thick with those melodramatic incidents which one might expect in the genre - yes, there is a fire, as well as a dramatic rescue, as well as the obligatory false accusation, met by proud defiance, and an unwillingness to fink - was most engrossing, and emotionally satisfying.

The character of the Insitut Steidel's principal, Fräulein Luise Steidel, was perhaps a little too good - one might almost say, angelic - but reminded me of Marmee, in Louisa May Alcott's classic Little Women, and was (as such a comparison must make plain) immensely appealing, all the same. Fay, with her rather self-involved determination to be the best, was less likable, but still a fascinating character; while peace-maker Helene Steidel - niece of the head-mistress - provided an interesting contrast to her British and American friends. It was Sibyl, however, with her rather outrageous pronouncements, penchant for trouble, and clear-sighted insight into the characters of those around her, who most grabbed my attention, and my heart. Complex, flawed, but also admirable, she is someone I'd like to 'meet' again - and hurray for the sequel, Sibyl; or, Old School Friends, which sees Fay and Sibyl at Cambridge! - in order to see how her character develops.

Of course, despite an engaging story and a cast of interesting characters, A Popular Girl is not without its flaws, chief amongst them the idea that too rigorous a pursuit of academic achievement isn't good for young women - Fay's 'brain fever/amnesia' certainly had me rolling! - and this despite a narrative that lends support to the idea that men and women are equals. The religious elements might be off-putting to some contemporary readers - and might also explain the author's drop in popularity - although I myself didn't find them too intrusive, and occasionally thought that they suited the style of story, and were quite lovely. In any case, while perhaps not for all readers, A Popular Girl is a book I regret not encountering as a girl, and is one I would recommend to those interested in the school-story genre, or in the portrayal of Americans (or Germans, for that matter) in British children's literature.

Lovely jolly-hockey-sticks British boarding school story, though VERY different to Enid Blyton fare! For one, the girls were all absolutely horrible creatures. Not one wonderfully likeable pupil amongst them! They weren't a bunch of Alicias, they were all just rotten little terrors - or absolute priggish goody-two-shoes. Heaps of fun to read about though. They had given their school a reputation for being "fast" and no wonder, with the 4th formers smoking in their dorm on the first night. LOL.Also, one girl mentioned one of the teachers getting a "good screw". I think that phrase meant something VERY different in the 20s?!Really fun book, nice and adventure-filled.

Lovely jolly-hockey-sticks British boarding school story, though VERY different to Enid Blyton fare! For one, the girls were all absolutely horrible creatures. Not one wonderfully likeable pupil amongst them! They weren't a bunch of Alicias, they were all just rotten little terrors - or absolute priggish goody-two-shoes. Heaps of fun to read about though. They had given their school a reputation for being "fast" and no wonder, with the 4th formers smoking in their dorm on the first night. LOL.Also, one girl mentioned one of the teachers getting a "good screw". I think that phrase meant something VERY different in the 20s?!Really fun book, nice and adventure-filled.