Malory Towers

Last updated

Malory Towers
FirstTermAtMaloryTowers.jpg
Book 1 of the series
Author Enid Blyton
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
GenreLiterature, bildungsroman
Published1946–1951
No. of books6 (in the original series)

Malory Towers is a series of six novels by English author Enid Blyton. The series is based on a girls' boarding school that Blyton's daughter attended, Benenden School, which relocated during World War II to the Hotel Bristol in Newquay, Cornwall. [1] The series follows the protagonist, Darrell Rivers, on her adventures and experiences in boarding school. Darrell Rivers' name was inspired by that of Blyton's second husband, Kenneth Darrell Waters.

Contents

In 2009, six more books were added to the series by author Pamela Cox. Events in these take place after Darrell has left the school and focus on her younger sister, Felicity Rivers.

Plot summaries

First Term at Malory Towers

Darrell Rivers begins her first year at Malory Towers, a castle-like clifftop boarding school in Cornwall. She meets sharp-tongued, cheeky Alicia, musical genius Irene and timid Mary-Lou. Determined to do well and make friends, Darrell's first term is turbulent. Her temper causes problems and her efforts at playing the fool backfire. Another new girl is Gwendoline Mary Lacey, who turns out to be vain, shallow and prone to occasional spitefulness and bullying. The Malory Towers stories largely centre on the intertwined stories of Darrell and Gwendoline, along with Alicia Johns, Sally Hope and Mary-Lou. The first book ends with Darrell finding a best friend in Sally Hope. [2] [3]

The Second Form at Malory Towers

The girls move into the Second form at Malory Towers with a new form mistress, Miss Parker, and three new girls. In an eventful term, new tricks are played on the teachers and the girls make the unpleasant discovery that there is a thief in their midst. Among the newcomers, Belinda delights the other girls with her sharply drawn caricature drawings, while Ellen worries about her position in the form and overworks herself. The third new girl is Daphne, who is not all she seems and is involved in a dramatic cliff top rescue on a stormy night.She rescues Mary Lou who was on the edge of dying on a cliff [4] [5]

Third Year at Malory Towers

Darrell and her friends are now in the Third Form, alongside more new girls. American girl Zerelda has ambitions to be a film star, while Wilhelmina, known to all as Bill, is obsessed with horses. There is also Mavis, who has a beautiful singing voice, which she foolishly risks when she attends a local talent contest and finds herself stranded at night outside the school in a rainstorm. Darrell has a smaller role in this story, mainly centred around her inclusion in a school lacrosse team. [6] [7]

Upper Fourth at Malory Towers

Sibling relationships are a theme of the fourth book, with the arrival at Malory Towers of Darrell's younger sister Felicity, Alicia's younger cousin June, and twins Connie and Ruth Batten. The fourth formers are working hard for the tough School Certificate examination, which quick-brained Alicia finds unexpectedly hard when she succumbs to measles. Darrell is Head Girl of the form, but is forced to resign when her temper gets the better of her once more. A sickly new girl, Clarissa, gives Gwendoline the idea of avoiding the examination by affecting a heart condition, which leads to a bitter confrontation with her appalled father. [8] [9]

In the Fifth at Malory Towers

The Fifth Form is asked to produce the school Christmas entertainment, which they decide should be the pantomime Cinderella. Darrell is the lead writer and Irene composes the music, while lead roles are taken by Alicia, Mary-Lou and Bill. Gwen finds herself much in the company of new girl Maureen who, to her discomfort, shares many of her vain and shallow traits. The Head Girl of the Fifth is the hard and domineering Moira, which creates much friction between the girls before matters are resolved and the show is triumphantly staged. Darrell realises she has a talent for writing and that this may be her future career. [10] [11]

Last Term at Malory Towers

In her final year, Darrell is now Head Girl of the school. In a frank exchange with Miss Grayling, they agree that the only real failure in Darrell's year is Gwendoline, and Darrell undertakes to do what she can to try and set Gwen on a more positive path before it is too late. But Gwen is destined to get a huge shock that forces her to re-evaluate her future and bitterly regret some cruel words to her father. New girl Amanda finds herself in danger when she attempts to swim in the sea beyond the safe waters of the school pool, while second former Jo runs away from the school after stealing money from Matron. [12] [13]

Pamela Cox books

The second series of six books follows Felicity, Darrell's younger sister, from her third year to her final term. Sally's younger sister, Daffy, eventually joins the school when Felicity and her friends are in the sixth form. The final book of the new series, Goodbye Malory Towers, sees the return of the original cast, including Darrell, Sally, and Alicia, for a school reunion, and the addition of Gwendoline Mary Lacey to the teaching staff.

Origins and inspirations

Lulworth Castle, believed by commenters to have inspired the design for Malory Towers. Lulworth Castle (1937).jpg
Lulworth Castle, believed by commenters to have inspired the design for Malory Towers.

Enid Blyton's elder daughter Gillian joined Benenden School in the autumn of 1945. The school had relocated from its original site in Kent during World War II to the Hotel Bristol in Newquay, Cornwall. [14] Although Gillian was only at the Cornish location of Benenden School for one term before it moved back to Kent, Malory Towers' position on the west coast (as shown on the maps drawn for the endpapers of the books) matches that of Beneden School in Newquay. Other features of the school seem to be inspired by Dorset, where Blyton holidayed annually: the coastal swimming pool is similar to the one at Dancing Ledge, and the school building itself is similar to Lulworth Castle. [15]

Commenters have also remarked on the parallels between Gillian's school life, as recorded in her diaries, and the plots of the Malory Towers books. It is even suggested that the Malory Towers stories were Blyton's way of communicating with her daughter and providing counsel. [16] The similarities include Darrell's temper, interests in an acting career, and obsessions with horses. As with Darrell in the books, Gillian's father was also a surgeon.

The incident in the first book that depicts Darrell pushing over Sally has a close parallel to an incident between Gillian and her younger sister Imogen. [17] The entry in her diary reads:

'Imo annoyed me and I got in one of my tempers and knocked her down. She might have hurt herself. Really, I just don’t know what I do when in a temper. I might easily kill her one day.'

The plotline in "Third Year" that introduces the character Zerelda Brass, who has aspirations to become an actress, also has a parallel in Gillian's diaries. [18] A memo in the back of her 1946 diary reads:

'In the letter Mummy wrote she said she thought I would make a good actress and that if I wanted to be an actress she and Daddy would back me up. She said she was glad I was able to analyse my feelings. She said I had the right sympathetic feelings for an actress. She was very nice and I love her.'

School building

In its first appearance, the school is described thus:

She saw a big, square looking building of soft grey stone standing high up on a hill. The hill was really a cliff, that fell steeply down to the sea. At each end of the gracious building stood rounded towers. Darrell could glimpse other towers as well, making four in all. North Tower, South, East and West.

Each tower acts as a boarding house and provides accommodation for about 60 girls, ten in each year group. There is a Matron in each tower and a House Mistress in overall charge. The towers have four storeys, with kitchen, dining hall and common rooms on the ground floor, dormitories on the first and second floors, and staff rooms and storage are on the top floor.

The school forms a square with a courtyard in the middle. The sides of the school are three storeys high. The front of the building, between the east and south towers, has the main entrance, gymnasium, assembly hall, laboratories and art room. The classrooms are between the west and the north towers. Between the north and east towers are the sanitorium and the headmistress's rooms. The mistress's rooms are between the south and west tower.

The school also has a rose garden, stables, tennis courts, sports pitches and an outside, natural swimming pool cut into the coastline.

Main characters (Enid Blyton novels)

The principal characters among the girls in the Enid Blyton books are: [19]

North Tower girls in Darrell's year

North Tower girls in other years

Girls in other towers

School staff

Other characters

Main characters (Pamela Cox novels)

North Tower girls in Felicity's year

North Tower girls in other years

School staff

Other characters

Books

The six official books of the series are:

  1. First Term at Malory Towers (1946)
  2. The Second Form at Malory Towers (1947)
  3. Third Year at Malory Towers (1948)
  4. Upper Fourth at Malory Towers (1949)
  5. In the Fifth at Malory Towers (1950)
  6. Last Term at Malory Towers (1951)

Pamela Cox wrote six sequels of the series in 2009 which focus on the adventures of Felicity Rivers, June Johns and Susan Blake:

  1. New Term at Malory Towers (2009)
  2. Summer Term at Malory Towers (2009)
  3. Winter Term at Malory Towers (2009)
  4. Fun and Games at Malory Towers (2009)
  5. Secrets at Malory Towers (2009)
  6. Goodbye Malory Towers (2009)

Blyton wrote two other series about boarding-school life: the St. Clare's and the Naughtiest Girl series.

Adaptations

German adaptation

The German version, published in the 1960s and 1970s underwent substantial changes to catch up with time (e.g. turntables instead of gramophones), to better resemble German grammar schools (playing handball instead of lacrosse). Furthermore, there were changes to character names – for instance, Darrell was renamed Dolly. From 1977 to 1997, twelve sequel books were published, telling Dolly's further life which always stays close to the school: after studying at a partner university, she works as a house mistress, marries one of the teachers, and has a child of her own. The story ends in the 18th book with old Miss Grayling's dignified retirement – and Dolly as her successor.

Stage musical

A stage production written and directed by Emma Rice and her company Wise Children has been touring theatres in 2019. It is a co-production with York Theatre Royal, in association with the Bristol Old Vic. [20]

TV series

In 2019, it was announced that a television adaptation was being produced for British television channel CBBC, in association with Canada's Family Channel. It was developed by Rachel Flowerday, who had previously worked on the television series Father Brown , and Sasha Hails. [21] It specifically included a cast with members of BAME communities and actors with facial disfigurements. It premiered on 23 March 2020. Season 1 has 13 half-hour episodes about Darrell's first year at Malory Towers.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enid Blyton</span> English childrens writer (1897–1968)

Enid Mary Blyton was born on11 August 1897 and lived until 28 November 1968) was an English children's writer, whose books have been worldwide bestsellers since the 1930s, selling more than 600 million copies. Her books are still enormously popular and have been translated into ninety languages. As at June 2019, Blyton held the 4th place for the most translated author. She wrote on a wide range of topics, including education, natural history, fantasy, mystery, and biblical narratives. She is best remembered for her Noddy, Famous Five, Secret Seven, the Five Find-Outers, and Malory Towers books, although she also wrote many others, including; St. Clare's, The Naughtiest Girl, and The Faraway Tree series.

<i>The Famous Five</i> Series of childrens novels by Enid Blyton

The Famous Five is a series of children's adventure novels and short stories written by English author Enid Blyton. The first book, Five on a Treasure Island, was published in 1942. The novels feature the adventures of a group of young children – Julian, Dick, Anne, George and their dog Timmy.

St. Clare's is a series of nine books written by English children's authors Enid Blyton and Pamela Cox about a boarding school of that name. The series follows the heroines Patricia "Pat" and Isabel O'Sullivan from their first year at St. Clare's on. Other characters include Alison O'Sullivan, Hilary Wentworth, Sadie Green, Kathleen Gregory, Janet Robins, Doris Elward, Vera Johns, Sheila Naylor, Roberta "Bobby" Ellis, Pamela Boardman, "Sour Milk" Prudence Arnold, Carlotta Brown, "Catty" Elsie Fanshawe, Gladys Hillman, Mirabel Unwin, Kitty Flaherty, Pauline Bingham-Jones, sisters Claudine and Antoinette, "the Honourable" Angela Favorleigh, Alma Pudden, Anne-Marie Longden, Felicity Ray, Winifred James, Belinda Towers, Tessie, Margery Fenworthy, Lucy Oriell, Erica, Priscilla Parsons and Joan Terry.

<i>The Worst Witch</i> Series of childrens novels by Jill Murphy

The Worst Witch is a series of children's books written and illustrated by English author Jill Murphy. The series are primarily about a girl named Mildred Hubble who attends a witch school and fantasy stories, with eight books published. The first, The Worst Witch, was published in 1974 by Allison & Busby, and the most recent, First Prize for the Worst Witch, was published in 2018 by Puffin Books, the current publisher of the series. The books have become some of the most successful titles on the Young Puffin paperback list and have sold more than 5 million copies.

Trebizon is a series of school story novels by Anne Digby set in a fictional school of that name. The fourteen novels were published between 1978 and 1994 and the first ten books were reprinted in 2016 and 2017. Like Enid Blyton's earlier creation, Malory Towers, Trebizon is in Cornwall.

<i>The Twins at St. Clares</i> Childrens novel

The Twins at St Clare's is a children's novel by Enid Blyton set in an English girls' boarding school. It is the first of the original six novels in the St. Clare's series of school stories. First published in 1941, it tells the story of twin sisters Pat and Isabel O'Sullivan in their first term at a new school. They meet many new friends.

<i>The OSullivan Twins</i> Book by Enid Blyton

The O'Sullivan Twins is the second in the St. Clare's series of children's novels by Enid Blyton. It was first published in 1942 by Methuen.

<i>Summer Term at St. Clares</i> Novel by Enid Blyton

Summer Term at St. Clare's is the third novel in the St. Clare's series of girls' school stories by British author Enid Blyton. The series is about the boarding school adventures of twin girls Patricia and Isabel O'Sullivan.

<i>The Second Form at St. Clares</i> Book by Enid Blyton

The Second Form at St. Clares is the fourth novel in the St. Clare's series of children's school stories by Enid Blyton. The series is about the boarding school adventures of twin girls Patricia and Isabel O'Sullivan. Their form mistress is now Miss Jenks and they no longer have to bear the severeness of the first form mistress, Miss Roberts – who is extremely sarcastic and firm but can be kind when she feels like to, a bit like Mam'zelle, the French teacher that used to teach and is still teaching the girls.

The Naughtiest Girl is a series of children's novels written by Enid Blyton in the 1940s–1950s. Unusually, they are set at a progressive boarding school rather than a traditional one. The school, Whyteleafe, bears a striking resemblance to the independent Suffolk boarding school, Summerhill. Anne Digby, author of the Trebizon series, has written some additional books in the series.

This is a list of 762 books by Enid Blyton (1897–1968), an English children's writer who also wrote under the pseudonym of Mary Pollock. She was one of the most successful children's storytellers of the 20th century.

<i>Claudine at St.Clares</i> Book by Enid Blyton

Claudine at St. Clare's is the seventh novel in the St. Clare's series by Enid Blyton. The narrative follows the O'Sullivan twins, Patricia and Isabel, and their adventures at exclusive boarding school St Clare's. The book introduces four new characters: Claudine, the French mistress' niece; Eileen, whose mother joins the school as matron; Pauline, a wannabe rich girl; and Angela, a rich and spoiled society girl.

<i>The Naughtiest Girl in the School</i> Novel by Enid Blyton

The Naughtiest Girl in the School is the first novel in The Naughtiest Girl series by Enid Blyton, published in 1940. The title character is Elizabeth Allen, a spoiled girl who is sent to a boarding school called Whyteleafe School.

<i>The Worst Witch</i> (1998 TV series) 1998–2001 television series

The Worst Witch is an ITV television series, running from 1998 to 2001, about a group of young witches at an academy for magicians called Cackles Academy. The television series stars Georgina Sherrington and Felicity Jones, and is based on The Worst Witch series of books by Jill Murphy. It aired for a total of 40 episodes spread over three television series between 1998 and 2001, before being followed by its sequel Weirdsister College. Most episodes revolved around the academy, following the adventures of the worst witch ever, Mildred and her friends. The television series was later followed by The New Worst Witch, which ran for two series and chronicled the experiences of Mildred's younger cousin Hettie as she attended the school.

<i>First Term at Malory Towers</i> 1947 book by Enid Blyton

First Term at Malory Towers is the first Malory Towers book by Enid Blyton. The book introduces the main characters including Darrell Rivers, Sally Hope, Mary-Lou, Alicia Johns, Gwendoline Mary Lacey, and teachers as Miss Potts and Miss Grayling.

<i>The Second Form at Malory Towers</i> Novel by Enid Blyton

The Second Form at Malory Towers is a novel by Enid Blyton set in an English boarding school. It is the second book in the Malory Towers school story series. The novel was published in 1947 by Methuen Publishing. The first edition was illustrated by Stanley Lloyd, both the dust jacket and the inner illustrations. It has been reprinted 20 times, the most recent being in 2019. The Second Form at Malory Towers has a rating of 4.06 stars on Goodreads.

<i>Third Year at Malory Towers</i> Novel by Enid Blyton

Third Year at Malory Towers is a novel by Enid Blyton set in an English girls' boarding school. It is the third book in the Malory Towers school story series. The novel was first published in 1948.

<i>In the Fifth at Malory Towers</i> Book by Enid Blyton

In the Fifth at Malory Towers is a novel in the school story genre written by Enid Blyton. It is the fifth book in her Malory Towers series and, like other books in the series, follows Darrell Rivers at the eponymous girls' boarding school.

Malory Towers is a 2020s British-Canadian historical drama television series based on the eponymous book series of the same name by Enid Blyton.

<i>Last Term at Malory Towers</i> Novel in the school story genre

Last Term at Malory Towers is a novel in the school story genre written by Enid Blyton. It is the sixth and final book written by Blyton in her Malory Towers series and, like the previous books in the series, follows Darrell Rivers at the eponymous girls' boarding school.

References

  1. ↑ "Our History | Benenden School | Independent Boarding School for Girls | Private School Kent".
  2. ↑ "First Term at Malory Towers by Enid Blyton".
  3. ↑ "Enid – Lashings of Information about the Children's Author".
  4. ↑ "The Second Form at Malory Towers by Enid Blyton".
  5. ↑ "Enid Blyton – Lashings of Information about the Children's Author".
  6. ↑ "Third Year at Malory Towers by Enid Blyton".
  7. ↑ "Enid Blyton – Lashings of Information about the Children's Author".
  8. ↑ "Upper Fourth at Malory Towers by Enid Blyton".
  9. ↑ "Enid Blyton – Lashings of Information about the Children's Author".
  10. ↑ "In the Fifth at Malory Towers by Enid Blyton".
  11. ↑ "Enid Blyton – Lashings of Information about the Children's Author".
  12. ↑ "Last Term at Malory Towers by Enid Blyton".
  13. ↑ "Enid Blyton – Lashings of Information about the Children's Author".
  14. ↑ "Our History | Benenden School | Independent Boarding School for Girls | Private School Kent".
  15. ↑ "First Term at Malory Towers".
  16. ↑ "Third Year".
  17. ↑ "First Term at Malory Towers".
  18. ↑ "Third Year".
  19. ↑ "Enid Blyton – Lashings of Information about the Children's Author".
  20. ↑ "Malory Towers by Wise Children: dates and details announced | WhatsOnStage". WhatsOnStage.com. April 2019.
  21. ↑ "Enid Blyton's Malory Towers coming to TV". Raidió Teilifís Éireann. 2 July 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.