Elinor M. Brent-Dyer’s Short Stories by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A collection of Elinor M.Brent-Dyer’s other work brought under one title is a great and glorious thing and it’s one that produces several very lovely treasures.
At one level it’s naturally appealing to the academic, revealing themes and nuances lost perhaps in the more broadly known titles of her own. Brent-Dyer’s poetry for example makes a brief and startling appearance (and I would have welcomed more of this). There’s a furious, brittle rage in ‘War’ and this rage is powerfully expressed throughout the rest fo the poem.
Another highlight for me was the inclusion of the Chalet Girls’ cookbook, though it’s worthwhile to note that parts of this were expanded to form the Cookbook itself so there is some sense of repetition. This also happens with the chapter on The Triumvirate Go Ski-ing, which was co-opted to form a chapter in the Chalet School and Robin.
As a whole though this book is full of lovely moments and it’s a definite treat for the EBD fan. I loved the ‘cameo’ appearances of Miss Maynard, Joey and the Robin in ‘The Rescue of Woolly Bear’ and had a lot of enjoyment to finally read a version of ‘Jack’s Revenge’, Brent-Dyer’s earliest published piece. Though this is a collection definitely for those ‘in the club’, it’s a collection worth hunting out and savouring.
Daisy May Johnson 