Old Girl and author Pat Turner was back at Bolton School this
week to do some research on life at an independent day school in
the 1940's, after being asked to write the foreword for a
republication of acclaimed author Clare Mallory's book 'Leith and
Friends'.
This is an honour for Pat as New Zealand born Clare Mallory, who
died in 1991, is primarily remembered as a superior exponent of the
girls' School story. She wrote ten children's books published
between 1947 and 1951. Prior to her marriage she was headmistress
of a day and boarding school in Dunedin, New Zealand and she
describes her first books as coming from stories she made up to
entertain her students while they prepared food parcels for
Britain. 'Leith and Friends' was first published in 1950 and was
one of the first of Clare Mallory's books to focus on day schools
not boarding schools.
Pat Turner wrote her own series of books, which are based on a
fictitious boarding school for girls in Cumbria, and all six of her
novels have recently been snapped up by a publisher 60 years after
the first one was started. Her time at Bolton School Girls'
Division was the inspiration for the series, and this, along with
all the research when writing her own stories, certainly make Pat
the ideal person to write the foreword of the republished 'Leith
and Friends'.
Of Clare Mallory, The Encyclopaedia of Girls' School Stories
says: "She doesn't break new ground but rather stays true to the
traditional elements of the genre, populating her stories with
tall, authoritative Head Girls, forceful Games Captains, respected
albeit distant Head Mistresses and a cast of likeable juniors of
assorted ages. If there is a recurring theme to her stories it is
the importance of belonging. This possibly relates to Mallory's own
life. She lost both her parents while a teenager and completed her
schooling while living in lodgings. Mallory's heroes relish the
ties that bind. Merry is 'second generation Tremaynes', Juliet
travels 12,000 miles to attend the school her grandfather helped
found, Leith thinks she is looking for a particular friend but
discovers instead the value of belonging to a community. For
Mallory the School or more specifically in several books, the
House, represents a place where one can belong."