The author of approximately 170 children's books, published both under her own name, and under various pseudonyms - as Jean Estoril, she is particularly well known as the creator of the Drina series, as well as the Ballet Family books - Mabel Esther Allan was a prolific writer, one who mastered a variety of genres, from the time-slip adventure to the school story. In addition to her books, from 1936-57 she published 330 short stories in magazines and journals. As its name suggests, Queen Rita at the High School and Other School Stories offers a selection of those of Allan's stories that concern school, and was the first of two such volumes (the second being The Two Head Girls and Other School Stories) to be printed by the Bemrose Press, based in Chester, England. In these seventeen selections we see certain themes that Allan often explored in her school story novels, from the reluctant new girl who must find her place amongst her fellows, to the importance of regional landscape and place itself to the story and to the characters. A number of these tales feature schools and characters from subsequent Allan novels, serving as the inspiration and/or starting point for those longer works. Selections include:

The titular Queen Rita at the High School (1945), in which fourteen-year-old Queen Margherita, of the alpine country of Hellavia, goes into hiding in England when revolution threatens her home country. Sent to school with the English daughter of one her mother's friends, Queen Rita soon makes her mark as a student and a guide. Happy at school in the Midlands, how will she react when the anti-royalists win in Hellavia...?

The Unwilling New Girl: A Heswall Story, in which Bettrys Parry-Davies, a young Welsh girl from Llangaffryn, is sent by her aunt to school near Hooton, on the Wirral peninsula. Just across the River Dee from her beloved Wales, Bettrys attempts to run away home on a number of occasions, first by boat and then by horse. These attempts are foiled by her English schoolmates, but will Bettrys ever be reconciled to her new life at Deeshore House...?

Morag the Mysterious: A Wirral Story, in which the seemingly demur Morag Eilidh MacIain, of Castle Iain in the Scottish Highlands, makes a poor first impression on two of her new schoolmates at Thornton House. It is only when Morag runs off to the forbidden Mermaids Isle one night, that the girls realize that her demur demeanor is but an act...

Biddy Cooil's Secret: A Manx Story (1943), in which Victoria English comes to school on the Isle of Man, befriending a local girl named Biddy Cooil, and getting involved in an exciting adventure in the local sea caves. Biddy, naturally, whom the girls take for a rustic, is later revealed as Lady Brigitte Camberwell...

Sylvie in Skye, an influence on Allan's Over the Sea to School, which follows the story of eponymous Sylvie Grey, who is taken out of the public High School she loves (note: public in the British sense, not the American one) and sent to Sligarchan House School on the Isle of Skye. Although resistant to the charms of her new school and schoolmates, Sylvie is eventually won over at a midnight picnic...

The School in Scotland (1945), which, despite being set in the Scottish Highlands, was also an influence on Over the Sea to School, and which sees a group of girls at Kinnell House School getting involved in an adventure involving the local clan chief and a case of mistaken identity...

Fiona Goes to Skye: A Dundonay Story (written in the late 1950s), in which Fiona Merritt comes to Dundonay House School on the Isle of Skye, convinced that because it has a progressive ethos, there will be few rules and restrictions. Through a series of disastrous misadventures, she soon learns otherwise. This tale is directly related to Over the Sea to School and its sequels, and mentions the heroine of those books, Dillian Harvie, by name.

Abbot's Watch: A Welsh Story, which follows new girl Garth Llewellyn in her first days at Rhysmawr Abbey School in Wales, where she is falsely accused, together with fellow new girl Eileen James, of vandalizing the school's beloved medieval Abbey, becoming an outcast in short order. When a fire threatens her cousin however, Garth springs into action, proving her mettle...

Gwynyth's Mountain Problem: A Llanrhysydd Story, which features the titular Gwynyth Parry, who is caught in a trap of her own making when her younger cousin comes to school at Llanrhysydd, believing all the tall tales that she (the shy and timid Gwynyth) has told about her own popularity and prowess as a mountain climber. This story features the cast of characters from School Under Snowdon, mentioning both the heroine of that book (Verity Armitage) and of the related Swiss School (Felicity Boden).

The Advent of Dill: A Norfolk Story, in which Dorothy Lang, Head Girl at Buckland School in Norfolk, is dismayed to learn that her madcap younger sister Dill (Daphne Isobel Lennox Lang) is coming to school with her. Naturally, Dill leads a wild life at first, until her escapades lead her friends into serious danger on the nearby marshland...

Laura's Dull Life: A Chiltern Story, in which the eponymous Laura Anders, living a quiet life with her Great Aunt, is befriended by Glenda, a student at the nearby Beech Court School, in the Chiltern Hills. Prevented from attending school by her aunt, who believes it will interfere with her study of music, Laura leads a very dull life indeed, until Glenda enters the scene...

The Farchester Festival: A Folk Dance Story, in which new girl Annan Wylie upsets the Captain of the Lower Fifth with her offer to be a reserve for the dance team their school is entering in the Farchester Musical Festival, until it is revealed that Annan has earned her Silver Badge and is an accomplished dancer in her own right. Farchester also appears in Allan's Drina Dances in Paris, where it is called Francaster.

The Sixth and Roslin: A Musical Story, which was published as "Command Performance," and which follows the story of piano prodigy Roslin Farrar, who angers the Head Girl and Prefect at her new school by refusing to participate in the Musical Festival. Matters are only resolved when it is revealed that the scheduling conflict which has prevented Roslin from participating in a performance for the Queen...

When Sorrel Was New, in which new girl Sorrel Pilgrim is cowed into admitting she has no discernible talent, when she first arrives and Granby. But when the star of the school play is taken ill, Sorrel steps in, revealing her surprising heritage...

Delsia and the School Next Door, in which Delsia James decides to start a feud with the new school that has moved in next door to her more established one. Littl does she know that the school next door is run by the sister of her own headmistress, and that the two schools are soon to merge...

Dorinda and the Juniors, in which newcomer Dorinda Maitland has a good influence on the wild juniors at Clayden House School, largely because of the progressive ethos of the school from which she has come...

And finally, Andrea Goes Gipsying, in which the eponymous heroine is reconciled to her new school by a heart-to-heart chat with a friendly gypsy man, and by her involvement in girl guides...

All told, Queen Rita at the High School and Other School Stories offers an enjoyable reading experience in its own right, particularly if one enjoys girls' school stories. That said, it is also quite fascinating, as a means of delving deeper into Mabel Esther Allan's work, and her development as a writer. If one is familiar with some of her books, than there are multiple connections to be observed - in the treatment of place, in the creation of specific schools and characters, and in the development of particular themes - between these stories and many of the novels she would go on to produce. The struggle of the new girl, the superiority of progressive schools, the importance of music and dance - these are all ideas to be seen in the selections here, and that Allan would develop more fully elsewhere. If I have any criticism to make at all, of this collection, it would be that I wish more publication information was provided for each story. Occasionally, the dates of publication and/or sale were provided, but I would have liked that information for all of the selections, as well as the names of the magazines or periodicals in which these stories first saw print. Leaving that aside, this is a collection I would wholeheartedly recommend to all Allan fans, although its scarcity - it was privately printed and is quite rare - makes it difficult to obtain. I myself read a copy in the rare book room of my university. Still, if the interested reader can manage to lay hands on it, it is well worth their time. ( )