Elinor Brent-Dyer's Writing - Year 1922
Year: 1922
Elinor's age at time of publication: 28
Title(s): Gerry Goes to School
Links to other works in the same year:
N/A
Links to other works in general:
Gerry will reappear in Rivals of the CS
The theme of jealousy prompting a rivalry appears in too many novels to list
Various members of the Atherton family will be scattered through the rest of the CS series as well as play key roles in the La Rochelle series
First use of "gray, still and to all appearance dead" as seen in Rivals, Highland Twins, Shocks and Mary Lou
The central character has her hair style changed and her name shortened to introduce her to this different world in the same way as happens to Theodora Grantley (Theodora)
Gerry's desire to go to school mirrors that of Princess Elisaveta (Princess at the CS)
EBD introduces names she will use for a number of other characters of varied importance (examples of others in brackets - not a complete list!):
* Gillian (see also Linton, Culver, Moggeridge, Watson)
* Paul (see Ozanne)
* Cecil (see Maynard, Robin Humphries)
* Margaret (see Bettany, Maynard, Twiss, Anstey, Venables, Jones, Walton)
* Helen (see Maynard, Wilson)
Strike idea will be repeated in Feud in the Fifth Remove.
Some Victorian ideas still exist such as Laurence fainting after safely bringing Nell and Gerry home in the carriage
General Thoughts:
This first full novel written by EBD contains many staples of the school genre - new character, very much a 'fish out of water', comes to a new environment and has to change in order to fit in. She prompts enmity in someone else and they undergo a major life-or-death situation before becoming friends.
There are problems with this book - it is episodic and disjointed (a failing that appears in several of her early works), key events that might be considered in detail are dismissed in only a paragraph (the result of the strike), and of a large cast, only a few ever get much 'screen time' (could we not have seen more of Betty?) while some seem rather interchangeable (Laurence and Paul).
Still, it's fun and, if nothing else, is a good launch-pad into the La Rochelle series.
Elinor's age at time of publication: 28
Title(s): Gerry Goes to School
Links to other works in the same year:
N/A
Links to other works in general:
Gerry will reappear in Rivals of the CS
The theme of jealousy prompting a rivalry appears in too many novels to list
Various members of the Atherton family will be scattered through the rest of the CS series as well as play key roles in the La Rochelle series
First use of "gray, still and to all appearance dead" as seen in Rivals, Highland Twins, Shocks and Mary Lou
The central character has her hair style changed and her name shortened to introduce her to this different world in the same way as happens to Theodora Grantley (Theodora)
Gerry's desire to go to school mirrors that of Princess Elisaveta (Princess at the CS)
EBD introduces names she will use for a number of other characters of varied importance (examples of others in brackets - not a complete list!):
* Gillian (see also Linton, Culver, Moggeridge, Watson)
* Paul (see Ozanne)
* Cecil (see Maynard, Robin Humphries)
* Margaret (see Bettany, Maynard, Twiss, Anstey, Venables, Jones, Walton)
* Helen (see Maynard, Wilson)
Strike idea will be repeated in Feud in the Fifth Remove.
Some Victorian ideas still exist such as Laurence fainting after safely bringing Nell and Gerry home in the carriage
General Thoughts:
This first full novel written by EBD contains many staples of the school genre - new character, very much a 'fish out of water', comes to a new environment and has to change in order to fit in. She prompts enmity in someone else and they undergo a major life-or-death situation before becoming friends.
There are problems with this book - it is episodic and disjointed (a failing that appears in several of her early works), key events that might be considered in detail are dismissed in only a paragraph (the result of the strike), and of a large cast, only a few ever get much 'screen time' (could we not have seen more of Betty?) while some seem rather interchangeable (Laurence and Paul).
Still, it's fun and, if nothing else, is a good launch-pad into the La Rochelle series.