Helen McClelland (1921–2008)

Had I not known that this wasn't written by EBD, I would never have guessed. It does everything a fill-in is supposed to: it's inkeeping with the themes, the tone, the characterization, while adding some really nice things as well, there are some times when I could tell the author favoured some bits over others and that's great too, it made a very good story. I loved Patricia, a girl who longs to be a doctor but isn't helped by her upper-class mother whose sole wish is to see her daughter do a good Season. The flash-forward at the end of the book was unexpected for me and very interesting as it's a glimpse of things to come (we see what becomes of Patricia during WWII). Lots of school things too, which is always welcome as far as I'm concerned. Really good addition to the series.… (meer)

I was disappointed with this the first time I read it, which surprised me because I really like other titles I've read by her. But I guess it goes to show that the environment in which you read something can make a huge difference to your impression of it. I have read people's accounts of how a really good book can get you through a bad experience. To a certain extent, yes, but what I have found is that reading a good book at a bad time is a great way to reduce the beauty of the good book. I know that The subtle knife certainly suffered this fate when I tried to use it to distract me from severe pain in hospital, and I've learned that if I want to enjoy a book, I need to optimise the reading conditions as far as possible.

I don't remember anything particularly nasty about the first time I read Visitors but this time I was much more agreeably inclined towards it. Not one of my favourite Chalets by any means (though, so far, I'm not having too many favourites at all in my second readings). But it is an enjoyable book and I'm glad I gave it a second go.

I wonder how many of my opinions and memories of books are coloured by who and where I was at the moment of reading? It's a bit like discovering how much of your identity is tied up in cultural habits that you aren't even aware of - nuances of language, accent, gesture... Books simply do not exist in isolation as individual entities. They exist in symbiosis with the reading experience - I wonder how many books I could reread now and find to be completely different?… (meer)

Despite the fact the author didn't write any more of the series some other writers have done so since and Visitors to the Chalet School is a sort of collaboration between Elinor's biographer and some old notes which Elinor herself had made on the term in question. It's set early in the series, Following on from The Princess of the Chalet School, and fills in a term which had been left out of the original series. Nothing quite so terribly exciting happens - so little so that I can't remember much, but it's a nice little book. And it's strange to have Joey all young again at 15, but still striving as always to put the world to rights. Fun.… (meer)