Reading: Nancy at St Bride's

[white_hart]

I think that Nancy at St Bride's was the only one of Dorita Fairlie Bruce's novels I encountered as a child. It stuck in my memory because it didn't follow the standard school-story pattern of the problem new girl becoming a reformed character and a proper, upstanding member of the school by the end of the book, and I was pleased to find a copy in a second-hand bookshop in Cromer last summer. I picked it out of the pile by the side of my bed this weekend because I was feeling grotty and full of cold and an undemanding school story seemed like just the thing.

Although Nancy at St Bride's is ostensibly the story of Nancy Caird's first term at school on an island in the Firth of Clyde and the troubles her determination to have fun lead her and her form-mates into, I now realise that it's as much or more the story of the effect Nancy's arrival has on the friendship between prefects Chris Maclean and Sybil Grierson. Like so many school stories, it's really very strong on character and relationships, forgiving of human weaknesses and quite clear on what constitutes good leadership; more than most, it's also concerned with how tough being a leader can be sometimes. The characters were interesting and likeable and having spent a holiday in a flat overlooking the Firth of Clyde a couple of years ago I found it very easy to picture the setting. I'd like to read more of Bruce's books, if I can find them.

Comments

[green_knight]

Following the vague feeling of 'this rings a vague bell but I definitely haven't read them' I googled and struck gold: Apparently Phillip Larkin wrote fanfic for this series

They don't sound like my cup of tea, but I am now even more curious to read the original.

[white_hart]

Goodness, that sounds...interesting!

[slemslempike]

I thought that they were just generic smut about school stories, rather than relating to St Brides in particular (the name being common enough). I actually have the Larkin book on my to read shelves and have done for at least a decade - I keep not doing so because I think I'll find them rather tiresome. Anyone who finds Nancy Breary "plodding and unfunny" is unlikely to make an improvement.

[white_hart]

I find I have a massive Do Not Want about the idea of a cishet man writing smutty fanfic of school stories (generic or specific) in a way that I wouldn't if it was a woman. It just feels very appropriative.

[el_staplador]

I think for me it would depend on the cishet man, but the idea of Larkin doing it is definitely giving me the cold grues. I will not be seeking out that one.

[white_hart]

The review green_knight linked to definitely gave me the cold grues.

[antisoppist]

Nancy at St Brides is odd because it was written after the others. The first Nancy book in publication order is That Boarding School Girl in which Nancy lands at a day grammar school after being expelled from St Brides and having vowed never to tell anyone there what happened at St Brides, which causes noble complications of schoolgirl honour. Then later on Bruce went back and wrote Nancy at St Brides, possibly because she had run out of things for Nancy to do by the time she'd grown up and become a professional organist. So it's not typical of the Nancy series as mostly they are day school stories set in England. That doesn't mean they're not good - there are feuds between the rival day schools whose juniors fight in the streets on their way home - but you might be surprised if you find another one and it isn't anything like Nancy at St Brides.

Bruce's Springdale series is set in a boarding school in Scotland, and the Dimsies are boarding school on the English south coast (with secret tunnels).

I have nearly all of Bruce's books if you would ever like to borrow. My username comes from the Dimsies.

[white_hart]

I hadn't realised that about the publication order (Wikipedia unhelpfully failed to list publication dates for anything apart from the Dimsie books). Are there other St Bride's books, though? I assumed there must be as there is a very mid-series feel to Nancy at St Bride's, with references to things about the characters other than Nancy which seem to assume that readers are already familiar with them.

I think I'd managed to pick up that the Anti-Soppists were from the Dimsie books - I'd certainly be interested in trying a few more if you're happy to lend them.

[antisoppist]

From the GGBP foreword:

The Girls of St Bride's OUP 1923
Nancy at St Bride's OUP 1933
That Boarding School Girl OUP 1925
The New Girl and Nancy OUP 1926
Nancy to the Rescue OUP 1927
The Best Bat in the School OUP 1931
Nancy in the Sixth OUP 1935
Nancy Returns to St Bride's OUP 1938
Nancy Calls the Tune OUP 1944

So there is one at the start about St Bride's but it doesn't have Nancy in it. It looks like she just used that school she'd invented for one book as the school Nancy had left in That Boarding School Girl and then went back and wrote that story later on. And I'm wrong about Bruce writing Nancy at St Bride's at the very end. In publication order it's before Nancy in the Sixth. Perhaps she was contemplating Nancy Returns to St Bride's at the same time.

I can get some more Bruce to your neck of the woods. Can't do the first Dimsies this time as I've got a heavy omnibus edition and I'll be on a train next visit but I'll dig out a couple of others.

I don't seem to have Girls of St Bride's or not in any obvious place, which is annoying.

[white_hart]

I can't help parsing "The Best Bat in the School" as referring to flying mammals of the order Chiroptera.

I look forward to trying some of the others!