Malory Towers - Enid Blyton
New girls in school fiction are generally one of two types. The first type
(the O'Sullivan Twins, Elizabeth Allen) do not want to go to school and are
dragged there kicking and screaming, to cause as much havoc as possible before
realizing how wonderful the school is and becoming model citizens. The second
type are keen to get to school, having read stories of pillow fights and
midnight feasts, and are of a sensible, jolly, glowing-cheeked disposition which
means they will settle down immediately. Both types invariably become monitors,
prefects and head girls. Darrell Rivers of Malory Towers is the second type. As
is typical in school stories, the first of the series opens with the new girl on
her way to school. Darrell is happy and excited as her parents drive her to
Malory Towers, and we already know she will be A Good Egg.
With the other new girls, Darrell goes to see the headmistress Miss Grayling,
who lays out her ethos for the school. Exam results, while good, are not the
most important things at Malory Towers, Miss Grayling explains. Instead, the
school wants to turn out 'good strong women the world can lean on'. These are
the Malory Towers 'successes'.
Darrell immediately resolves to be a 'success', but is waylaid at first by
her friendship with the irresponsible Alicia Johns. Encouraged by Alicia's
casual attitude, Darrell does not work as hard as she might, and is disappointed
to find her name well down on the class list. Miss Potts explains that Darrell,
while clever, is of the type that must work hard to attain good results, which,
disappointingly, does not include playing jolly tricks on the French mistress.
Nonetheless, Darrell quickly settles down into school life, and the girls
like her. But no such luck for the other two new girls, Sally Hope and
Gwendoline Lacey. Gwendoline has already made herself a laughing stock by her
OTT display saying goodbye to her mother and governess, while Sally is reserved
and unfriendly. Darrell tells Sally that their mothers know each other, and
isn't Sally's new baby sister lovely? Don't have a baby sister, Sally ses. Hmm,
thinks Darrell.
All good things come to an end, and a few chapters into the book Darrell's
Hulk-like temper surfaces. One girl in the first form, Mary-Lou, is very timid
and frightened of everything—spiders, the dark, the swimming pool... Gwen
doesn't like the pool either, and when she sees Mary-Lou one day during
swimming, she wades over to her and 'ducks' her. The girls always duck each
other, but Gwen is a nasty type and holds Mary-Lou under water for too long.
Then—smack!—Darrell has seen her and starts slapping. Head girl Katherine ticks
her off, Darrell snarls back and is ordered out of the pool.
On the way back to the school Darrell is immediately contrite and knows that
her famous temper has once more got the better of her. She sees a sniffling Gwen
in the changing room and apologises to her. Don't care, Gwen ses.
The other girls agree that Darrell must apologise to Gwen and Katherine.
Darrell comes in during their meeting, says she knows she was at fault and tells
Katherine she's sorry. The girls admire Darrell for admitting she is wrong and
apologising for her fault, and being an all round Good Sort. Incident apparently
closed.
Things calm down for half-term, at least until Darrell sees Sally later that
night. She says that Sally does have a baby sister, as her mother has just told
her. Sally again denies it, the girls row, and Darrell pushes Sally so hard she
flies across the room (grrl power!). The next morning Sally is in the San.,
seriously ill. Oops!
Darrell worries for a few days until her father arrives to operate on Sally
(happily, he was staying in a hotel nearby!) and explains it was appendicitis
and not Darrell's push that made Sally ill. Once more Darrell vows she has jolly
well learnt her lesson and that she will keep her temper under check. She and
Sally become friends, and Sally confesses she pretended she had no sister
because she was jealous of the new baby. Darrell talks her round and the two
become Firm Friends.
Gwendoline, meanwhile, is still simmering over the Pool Incident, and when
Darrell and Sally orchestrate a near drowning of Darrell so that Mary-Lou will
save her and then feel more confident, Gwendoline's green-eyed monster knows no
bounds. In a Machiavellian masterpiece, she smashes Mary-Lou's fountain pen,
hides her own shoes and smears ink on Darrell's shoe (Gwen later found a good
job working for the police). Darrell is assumed guilty and ostracised by all
except Sally and Mary-Lou.
The newly brave Mary-Lou saves the day by sneaking downstairs in the middle
of the night and finding Gwendoline's hidden shoe. Darrell is cleared! (Hurrah!)
And so the term ends.