A Pair of Schoolgirls

by Angela Brazil

Overview

The school story is a fiction genre centering on older pre-adolescent and adolescent school life, at its most popular in the first half of the twentieth century. While examples do exist in other countries, it is most commonly set in English boarding schools and mostly written in girls' and boys' subgenres, reflecting the single-sex education typical until the 1950s. It focuses largely on friendship, honor and loyalty between pupils. Plots involving sports events, bullies, secrets, rivalry and bravery are often used to shape the school story.

The popularity of the traditional school story declined after the Second World War, but school stories have remained popular in other forms, with a focus on state run coeducational schools, and themes involving more modern concerns such as racial issues, family life, sexuality and drugs. More recently it has seen a revival with the success of the Harry Potter series, which uses many plot motifs commonly found in the traditional school story.

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Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781986610704
Publisher:	CreateSpace Publishing
Publication date:	03/19/2018
Pages:	150
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.32(d)

About the Author

Angela Brazil Angela Brazil (30 November 1868 - 13 March 1947) was one of the first British writers of "modern schoolgirls' stories", written from the characters' point of view and intended primarily as entertainment rather than moral instruction. In the first half of the 20th century she published nearly 50 books of girls' fiction, the vast majority being boarding school stories. She also published numerous short stories in magazines. Her books were commercially successful, widely read by pre-adolescent girls, and influenced them.[citation needed] Though interest in girls' school stories waned after World War II, her books remained popular until the 1960s. They were seen as disruptive and a negative influence on moral standards by some figures in authority during the height of their popularity, and in some cases were banned, or indeed burned, by headmistresses in British girls' schools. While her stories have been much imitated in more recent decades, and many of her motifs and plot elements have since become clichés or the subject of parody, they were innovative when they first appeared. Brazil made a major contribution to changing the nature of fiction for girls. She presented a young female point of view which was active, aware of current issues and independent-minded; she recognised adolescence as a time of transition, and accepted girls as having common interests and concerns which could be shared and acted upon.

Table of Contents

Contents

I A School Election 7

II What Dorothy Overheard 17

III A Retrospect 27

IV Dorothy makes a Friend 37

V A Literature Exercise 47

VI A Promise 57

VII Alison's Home 69

VIII A Short Cut 81

IX Dorothy Scores 90

X Martha Remembers 103

XI Alison's Uncle 115

XII The Subterranean Cavern 123

XIII A School Anniversary 136

XIV Water Plantain 147

XV A Confession 157

XVI The William Scott Prize 166

Editorial Reviews

"Angela Brazil has proved her undoubted talent for writing a story of schoolgirls for other schoolgirls to read."-Bookman.

"A capital story for girls-breezy, healthy, and full of interest."-Ladies' Field.

"Angela Brazil knows what schoolgirls like to read and she gives it to them."-Scottish Educational Journal.

"A capital school story, full of incident and fun, and ending with a mystery."-Spectator.

"A thoroughly good girls' school story."-Truth.

"A capital story for girls."-Record.

"St. Cyprian's is a remarkably real school, and Mildred Lancaster is a delightful girl."-Saturday Review.

"A very brightly-written story of schoolgirl character."-Daily Mail.

"The story is one to attract every lassie of good taste."-Globe.

"Schoolgirls will do well to try to secure a copy of this delightful story, with which they will be charmed."-Schoolmaster.

"One always looks for works of merit from the pen of Miss Angela Brazil. This book is no exception."-School Guardian.

"Juniors will sympathize with the Lower School at Briarcroft, and rejoice when the newcomer wages her successful battle."-Times.

"The story is so realistic that it should appeal to all girls."-Outlook.

"No girl could fail to be interested in this book."-Educational News.

"One of the best stories for girls we have seen for a long time."-Literary World.

From the Publisher