My rating: 4.15 of 5 stars

(I just realised we can do partial stars now, exciting times!)

I have always been a little bit patchy with Elinor M. Brent-Dyer’s non-Chalet School books because honestly, I wasn’t really bothered about them. I know that sounds brutal so let me elaborate: I have never been an reader for the entirety of an author but rather for the characters and the series they create. So, for example, with Tolkien, I’m not entirely bothered about anything but the Lord of The Rings books because baby, I’m in Rohan and I’m on that pony and I am on my way to Gondor. But I digress (and clearly need to rewatch a certain trio of films). My point here is that Brent-Dyer’s other work has never been a priority for me because I was too busy loving her Chalet School books entirely. I collected them intermittently, haphazardly, and came to the La Rochelle series at the end rather than the beginning. (This was with Janie Steps In, I think, which I will revisit now with at least some more clarity as to Precisely What Is Happening).

All of this is to say that I loved The Maids of La Rochelle. There’s nothing better than an author who is completely, idiosyncratically being herself and committing to that entirely. The Maids of La Rochelle is itself, happily so. Brent-Dyer delivers everything that you might want from her and even, I think, goes a little bit Angela Brazil at times. It’s a lot of fun. Some of it works. Some of it doesn’t. Some of it is the highest of melodrama. And there’s even a couple of proposals of the “meaningful look” and “meaningful look in response” style which delighted me so much I couldn’t even begin to tell you.

I love Brent-Dyer when she goes full Brent-Dyer. Does that make sense? There’s something so independently minded about this: it’s its very own thing (I suspect I have the apostrophes in the wrong place there but I shall go for it nevertheless). It is a little bit episodic at times, a little bit over-the-top, and a little bit too committed to getting everything in while there’s spare space on the page, but it’s fun. There’s nobody really who can do what Brent-Dyer does when she fully leans in. We recognise common themes and preoccupations, ideas which show up time and time again throughout her work (the FIST PUMP I did when a Hot Doctor appeared, I tell you), and there’s even a To All Appearances Dead sort of incident, and honestly, I just buy into it. Entirely. This is the good, ridiculous, Go Big Or Go Home author I love.


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Hello you! Would you like further things to read (and listen to?) Well you’re in the right section. Why not read this review Lorna at Wynyards by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer or listen to this podcast episode…