Reading: Nancy at St Bride's
Jan. 21st, 2019 07:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
white_hartI 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.
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.
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Date: 2019-01-22 07:10 pm (UTC)I look forward to trying some of the others!