Out of all the school stories that Enid Blyton wrote, Malory Towers was my favourite set. The 6 books in the series follow a group of girls at a boarding school in the south of England, with each novel describing a year in their lives. There are certain story lines and themes that run throughout ... Read review
Advantages: Sweet stories, well-written, funny characters Disadvantages: Not representative of the current state of the world
Out of all the school stories that Enid Blyton wrote, Malory Towers was my favourite set. The 6 books in the series follow a group of girls at a boarding school in the south of England, with each novel describing a year in their lives. There are certain story lines and themes that run throughout the series, but each book is written so they can be read individually, and in the first couple of chapters you get all the info you need to get you ... ...As with so many children’s books, the characters in this one always seem older than they are. I read the series through primary school, and again in the first few years of secondary, and even when I overtook them age-wise, they still seemed older than I was, if you see what I mean. They all seemed to have a lot of independence, but this could have more to do with the time in which they were written than anything else – back then I’m ... more
Out of all the school stories that Enid Blyton wrote, Malory Towers was my favourite set. The 6 books in the series follow a group of girls at a boarding school in the south of England, with each novel describing a year in their lives. There are certain story lines and themes that run throughout the series, but each book is written so they can be read individually, and in the first couple of chapters you get all the info you need to get you up to speed on what’s been happening.
As with so many children’s books, the characters in this one always seem older than they are. I read the series through primary school, and again in the first few years of secondary, and even when I overtook them age-wise, they still seemed older than I was, if you see what I mean. They all seemed to have a lot of independence, but this could have more to do with the time in which they were written than anything else – back then I’m sure no-one would have a problem with sending a few 11 year olds off walking in the woods for a day without an adult in sight. One think I thought especially fitting in the books was the way the names tied in with the personalities of the characters. Who doesn’t remember Gwedoline Mary Lacey? An annoying twit of a girl, she was extremely spoilt and fragile and, well, lacey. Bill, on the other hand, is a tough and “manly” as a girl can be. And, with a name like that, it’s hardly surprising that Moira is a “hard, domineering creature”. Each girl has some sort of defining character – Irene is a scatter-brained maths genius, for example, and Belinda a talented artist, especially when her subject matter is people and their various facial expressions. Alicia is smart, out-going and a quick-thinker, but prefers to use her talents for conjuring up pranks than for academia, whereas Violet is little more than a pale, wishy-washy, delicate flower. Though mainly British, there are a few foreign faces in the books including a handful of loud, brash Americans, and the adorable French teacher Mam'zelle Dupont (who was there way before Lycra, I’m sure).
The girls are, for the most part, rather wholesome. They’re not always perfect, but they’re well brought up enough to know how to behave - Darrell, for example, has a “dreadful” temper, but always manages to apologize gracefully if it gets out of hand. What a good girl she is. I always liked the chapter in the first book where she slaps Gwen, although the fact that she only gets into trouble with the other girls, rather than a staff member, ended up annoying me years later (I did the same thing to a girl at school once and promptly got a detention when she reported me).
There are very few men in the books. It’s an all girls school with a mainly female staff, and the men that do appear – fathers, brothers, cousins – only ever seem to do so at the start and end of terms. Because of this, none of the books cover subjects such as the warped love lives of teenagers – something almost any young adult book written today would do. These girls have better things to do than paint their nails and style their hair and when the odd person appears who does these things (like glamourous Zerelda who appears in the 3rd book) they’re rather perturbed.
They are school stories, but a lot of the action takes place outside the classroom (sports games, horse-riding trips, midnight feasts, swimming in their amazing sounding pool overlooking the sea). For the first few years the girls live in dormitories (just like in Harry Potter) within separate towers, or houses (ditto). They even play Lacrosse which is nothing if not a version of Quidditch just without the big hoops and, erm, magic. Most of the adventures aren’t as physically draining as in some of Blyton’s other series (the Secret, and Adventure series for example) but the books still contain thrills and suspense. Or at least they do if you’re 8 years old. They’re well-written books with very funny parts, and they’re handily split into fairly short chapters which doesn’t make reading them aloud out of the question.
Some people aren’t Blyton fans, but those who are generally like this series. It tells tales of a simpler world when all you needed was a jam sandwich and high spirits for a good time, and though the language is formal in places, and the vocab dated, it’s not hard to understand. One exception for me was that darn jam sandwich again – I was picturing the bread type and wondering how on earth you could share that between a dozen friends – and another Lacrosse, something I’d never heard of at that age. (This changed a few years later. Our secondary school, it seemed, favoured the bizarre throwing and catching game). The books are mainly fun and up-beat, but each seems to have some sort of serious event at some point – there aren’t that many deaths, but various serious illnesses an accidents crop up now and again. And that’s despite the best efforts of dear old Matron in the San.
<<Puts sensible but sexist cap on>> I would recommend these for daughters, nieces, cousins, any females in your life who are aged from 8 years. They’re sweet stories to read, the topics covered are universal while remaining pretty tame (none are going to lead to any embarrassing questions that I can foresee). Pretty much just good, clean, wholesome fun.
The 6 books in the set (titles below) retail at £3.99 each when bought individually. Full and half sets are also available, as are many second hand editions from charity shops and libraries.
· First Term at Malory Towers · Second Form at Malory Towers · Third Form at Malory Towers · Upper Fourth at Malory Towers · In the Fifth at Malory Towers · Last Term at Malory Towers
It’s one of the few Blyton series that was never made into a TV show, as far as I’m aware, though there is a computer game based on the books available though. Considering they were written in the 1940s when even electronic calculators weren’t being used in schools, that just seems wrong to me.
Find out which Malory Towers character YOU are at:
Advantages: easy to read, simple values, Disadvantages: bit outdated now, not seen as "PC" by some people
When I was a little girl I was an avid reader. Enid Blyton was my favourite author. In todays world, her books seem very simple and old fashioned because people had very different values back in the days in which the books are based.
I think that children of today would probably be bored with the books, however I still have all of mine, ready to pass on to my daugher (if I have one) one day.
There were six books in the Malory Towers series:
· ... ...Malory Towers · Third Form at Malory Towers · Upper Fourth at Malory Towers · In the Fifth at Malory Towers · Last Term at Malory Towers The series follows a boarding school in Cornwll, which has 4 towers, North, South, East and West. The books seem to focus on the North Tower and Darrell Rivers.
Each novel is about a year in the school. There are storylines that are through all 6 books, but each book also stands alone as a good read.
The characters ...
kismet 11.11.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Mallory Towers - Enid Blyton
Advantages: Enchanting childrens stories Disadvantages: Slightly politically incorrect if your that way inclined!
...series of books was the Mallory Towers, school series.
ST Clares ran a close second!
Mallory Towers is a girls boarding school, set in the picturesque backdrop of the cornish coast.
The main character is a girl called Darrel Rivers, her friend Sally Hope and a lot of other colorful characters, Alicia, the brainy kid, who doesn't have to work at anything, and can still play the fool, with some of her amazing jokes and pranks (usually played on ... ...genre, there is the staid but awe inspiring headmistress, jolly fat matron, ready to dish out huge spoonfulls of revolting medicine if any girl should pretend to be ill.
The older head girls of the school, who have the younger ones to perform duties and tasks for them.
There is always one spoilt girl, who has never been to boarding school before, usually with a spoilt mother to match! In this instance its Gwendoline Mary.
I found these books again ...
alleykatz 29.07.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Mallory Towers - Enid Blyton
Advantages: The books are great fun to read Disadvantages: There are only 6 in the entire series
The Malory Towers series has 12 year-old Darrell Rivers starting her first year at her new boarding school in Cornwall 'Malory Towers'. Darrell's younger sister, Felicity, is due to start a few years later.
FIRST TERM
Darrell arrives on the train platform to greet her new form mistress, Miss Potts - or 'Potty' as her form-mates call her. Miss Potts introduces her to Alicia Johns, a complex individual who goes on to become Darrell's best friend. ... ...'the dear Gwendoline Mary Lacey' as she calls her. Gwendoline is a sly girl, who lies about things to please her mum and her old governess, Miss Winter. But Darrell faces many a tricky problem, for instance her dreadful temper, the mystery of Sally Hope's mysterious behaviour, and the spiteful tricks play on poor Mary-Lou.
SECOND YEAR
The second term at Malory Towers is another dramatic one for Darrell, with Gwendoline being her usual cunning self, ...
JordanBuck 15.05.2009 (16.05.2009)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Mallory Towers - Enid Blyton
Advantages: Readable, timeless classics when children were children Disadvantages: There are only 6 to read!
...follow her 6 years at Mallory Towers and that of her form. The girls are of mixed and even talents and journey through escapades that lead them to become better girls worthy for society, sprinkle in a midnight feast or two and the odd joke on Mamzelle for good measure. For Darrell despite being clever and sporty her demon is her temper.
Darrels form reside in the North Tower of the school which is located on the cornish coast - the tower with the ... ...Sally Hope (best friend), Alicia Johns (clever and a prankster), Irene (mathematician and musician), Belinda (artist), Mavis (singer), Clarissa and Bill (horse mad), Mary Lou (timid), Gwendoline (sly), Daphne, the twins Connie and Ruth. Eventually Darrells younger sister Felicity also joins the school too.
What I love about these books is that the children are still children in them with childrens adventures that you wil not fail to read over and ...
dotjay19 18.06.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Mallory Towers - Enid Blyton
Advantages: good fun, a great read, engaging characters Disadvantages: seem rather dated nowadays
The Malory Towers series of books by Enid Blyton was my favourite reading material for a lot of my childhood. I was a voracious reader anyway (Still am, when I find the time), but these books were special. I loved the idea of going to boarding school, though I never did. The idea of dormitories and midnight feasts sounded magical and I'm sure I would have chosen to go to Malory Towers myself, if it had been a real place.
There are five Malory Towers ... ...Second Form, Third Year, Upper Fourth, In The Fifth and Last Term at Malory Towers.
They follow Darrell Rivers through her years at the boarding school, from her first uncertain steps into her new life until she sadly waves the school goodbye.
We get to know Darrell and it is wonderful being able to follow her and her friends, as they go through the school, dealing with the teachers, other girls, bullying, naughtiness, new arrivals and all the ...
KarenUK 10.01.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Mallory Towers - Enid Blyton
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Advantages: Engaging and enteraining Disadvantages: So heavy that if you drop it you could kill someone!
J K Rowling?s creation once again rears it?s head into the public eye and wings its way onto the bookcases of the nation. Like an unholy cross between EnidBlyton?s ?MalloryTowers? and J R R Tolkein?s ?Lord Of The Rings? the stories are a fusion of the saccharine boarding school and fantasy genres. Like ?The Worst Witch? without the slapstick humour, or ?Narnia? without the preaching Christian morality, the fact is that Rowling?s books are not as revolutionary as some would have us believe. The fourth book in the series ?The Goblet Of Fire? has been hyped in the media and is topping the best-seller lists ? and to Rowling?s credit it is an entertaining and engaging story ? but worth the £15 price tag? I think I?d wait for the paperback or even better for the local library to stock it. ...
Advantages: An absolutely fantastic read for young and old alike! Disadvantages: The first few chapters may put some people off reading on.
have to ask for clarification on certain words, but this can only enhance their learning experience. The subject matter would also be suitable for even younger children as a story to be read to them by their parents.
Reading the book from an adult?s point of view, I can only say that not since having read EnidBlyton?s ?MalloryTowers? books at a young age have I ever become so totally immersed in a book and actually wanted to be part of the story. The descriptive writing and imagery used is fantastic and you can really imagine yourself to be there at Hogwarts with Harry and his friends. I didn?t want to put the book down, and quickly made my way through the remaining books (currently only three more, but there are others promised!) as soon as I had finished this one.
One word of warning for any potential readers, you may find ...
Advantages: Return to form with a gripping story, leading nicely into book 7 Disadvantages: Too much waffle and description - and the teenage angst!
the series up to a point, but had found book five to be by far the weakest so far, with book four a close second to this. I was hoping that this was not the start of a downhill trend. The first three books in the series were classic children's fiction: well written, with fun characters who are brought to life in your imagination, and a sense of fun and camaraderie at Hogwarts School which was reminiscent of EnidBlyton's MalloryTowers series, which I adored as a child. Books four and five, however, took some of the action away from Hogwarts, introduced darker, more adult themes, and were much lengthier than the original three books, as the ongoing story became more and more involved. I often couldn't help feeling that J. K. Rowling would benefit from a good editor, particularly as I ploughed my way through some 700 odd pages in book five, but ...
