Elsie Oxenham (EJO) and the Abbey books is one of those series I fell towards following my love-affair with Brent-Dyer. EJO is an odd writer; one who’s dated greatly and then, in some queer little moments, not at all. I’m reading my Abbey books at present with a view towards gaining research for my dissertationContinue reading “Elsie Oxenham, the Abbey Girls and talent vs marriage”
Search results for: elsie oxenham
Robins in the Abbey by Elsie J Oxenham
Robins in the Abbey by Elsie J. Oxenham My rating: 2 of 5 stars We are many moons into the Abbey books by now so, as is tradition with this sort of thing, this title will make very little sense to anybody who hasn’t read all of the others and taken notes and made familyContinue reading “Robins in the Abbey by Elsie J Oxenham”
The Abbey Girls Go Back To School by Elsie J. Oxenham
The Abbey Girls Go Back To School by Elsie J. Oxenham My rating: 2 of 5 stars I keep trying with EJO and she keeps testing me and yet, I keep coming back. Why I cannot quit this series, I do not know. I keep putting them all in a bag to go to theContinue reading “The Abbey Girls Go Back To School by Elsie J. Oxenham”
The World of Elsie Jeanette Oxenham and her Books by Monica Godfrey
The World of Elsie Jeanette Oxenham and Her Books by Monica Godfrey My rating: 2 of 5 stars This isn’t a subtle biography by any means. It’s written from a very particular standpoint; one that I do accept, occasionally understand, but can’t ever describe as high literature. Godfrey is a fan, The World of ElsieContinue reading “The World of Elsie Jeanette Oxenham and her Books by Monica Godfrey”
The Abbey Girls In Town by Elsie J. Oxenham
The Abbey Girls in Town by Elsie J. Oxenham My rating: 4 of 5 stars Once you do an Abbey reread, you can’t stop. Though I was much more intrigued by the middle-aged spy drama happening in the background of this cover, and disappointed that it did not appear in the actual text itself, thisContinue reading “The Abbey Girls In Town by Elsie J. Oxenham”
Maid of the Abbey : Elsie J. Oxenham
Maid of the Abbey by Elsie J. Oxenham My rating: 5 of 5 stars I’m so intermittent with the Abbey Girls that it always takes me a moment to orientate myself and figure out where I am in the series. Is Maidlin old or young? Is Joy a muppet or vaguely appealing? Is Mary DorothyContinue reading “Maid of the Abbey : Elsie J. Oxenham”
Dimsie Among The Prefects by Dorita Fairlie Bruce
I review a lot of school stories on this blog. I even write them. They are, as you’ll be aware, my jam. But so far, my jam hasn’t really included Dorita Fairlie Bruce….
Lockdown Libraries
I had the sudden realisation the other day that due to the *gestures vaguely* everything of everything, this is the longest I’ve ever been without going to the library. Eighty-two days. Or, as the internet has helpfully informed me, eighty two days is the equivalent of over 22 % of this entire year. Libraries matterContinue reading “Lockdown Libraries”
Unexpected Archive Delights : 1920s Children’s Book Adverts
I am constantly surprised by archives. I know that’s an incredibly strange thing to say and one that sounds even stranger when you are supposed to know what you are looking at, but it’s true. I am surprised by archives; the way they give me something that I request that comes with a thousand otherContinue reading “Unexpected Archive Delights : 1920s Children’s Book Adverts”
The New Abbey Girls
The New Abbey Girls by Elsie J. Oxenham My rating: 3 of 5 stars I have such a love-hate relationship with Elsie Oxenham. When I’m thinking about culling some books, hers are always the first that I look at and yet they’re still here. They’ve been in a bag a few times, and I’ve takenContinue reading “The New Abbey Girls”
Pandora of Parrham Royal : Violet Needham
Pandora of Parrham Royal by Violet Needham My rating: 4 of 5 stars I’ve known about Violet Needham for a while but never really known about her, the specifics, at all. I had a vague idea that she was a contemporary of Elinor M. Brent-Dyer and Elsie Oxenham, but then, as I never found herContinue reading “Pandora of Parrham Royal : Violet Needham”
The New Normal : The Normalising of Creativity
Recently I’ve been thinking about doing a PhD ( Me! A PhD! Me who didn’t even get her GCSE Maths!), and as part of this I’ve been considering what I’d do it on. There’s a part of me that yearns, genuinely, just to get buried in the books and occasionally pop up and produce aContinue reading “The New Normal : The Normalising of Creativity”
Identifying geniuses in children’s literature
Genius is one of those almost unidentifiable things. You either have it, or you don’t, and until you become able to manifest it in ways we understand and can legitimise (ie: through a Mensa Test) , it may remain a relatively hidden talent. It’s a difficulty faced by geniuses in children’s literature and one that I’m goingContinue reading “Identifying geniuses in children’s literature”
Gendered books in children’s literature
There’s been an interesting debate on Twitter over the last couple of days about book design, marketing, and packaging in relation to issues of gender. Princess books versus Digger books. Construction of identity. Audiences. It’s been an interesting debate and it’s one that I’ve found particularly thought-provoking and incredibly complex. One comment on a postContinue reading “Gendered books in children’s literature”
The nature of genius in GirlsOwn Literature
Margia Bettany. Maidlin di Ravarati.Mildred Lancaster. Three characters, from three distinctly different authors. The one thing they have in common (apart from starting with the letter M..)? They’re all gifted and talented characters in their respective books. Genius in GirlsOwn Literature is a curious thing. It’s almost precluded to be gender specific due to the dominanceContinue reading “The nature of genius in GirlsOwn Literature”
Meet the family (confessions of a book collector)
My books! My lovely lovely books! Behold the heart of my Temple of Solitude! The left hand side is all Brent-Dyer, and a few Lorna Hills on the bottom. When you’re a book collector, you remember where so many of them came from. It’s almost as important as the book itself. My Chalet School collectionContinue reading “Meet the family (confessions of a book collector)”
Kindle power
My birthday was this week. My amazing mum and dad got me a Kindle (best parents ever). There’s a small problem though. I think I’m this close to marrying the Kindle. I am, as previously blogged, a Book Collector. It started with the Chalet School, branched off into Angela Brazil and Elsie Oxenham and nowContinue reading “Kindle power”
Robin Jarvis or Why The Old Ones Are Still The Best
I love my books. Being reunited with them is always an utter utter joy. I’m such a dork. I say hi to my mum, hi to my dad, pat the dog perfunctorily, tickle the cats and then race upstairs and stare lovingly at my babies. These shelves contain all the authors I can’t let go.Continue reading “Robin Jarvis or Why The Old Ones Are Still The Best”
Christmas hiatus
This is just a quick note to say I’m putting my feet up back at the family ranch and won’t be blogging over the Christmas break. I’ve got a lot of books to read up on as part of my dissertation whilst I’m back home so will be busy notating and scanning and wondering justContinue reading “Christmas hiatus”
Dimsie Moves Up : Dorita Fairlie Bruce
Dimsie Moves Up by Dorita Fairlie Bruce My rating: 3 of 5 stars In the world of Girlsown literature, there’s a concept of ‘the big four’. These are authors who formed the cornerstones of this genre: Elsie “Abbey” J Oxenham, Elinor “Chalet” M.Brent-Dyer, and Angela “Let’s use all the speech tags in the world” Brazil.Continue reading “Dimsie Moves Up : Dorita Fairlie Bruce”
Chin up, chest out – hold on a minute
I’m a little peeved. There’s a line which I’ve just read in Mary Cadogan’s Chin up chest out Jemima which is rankling with me. I’ll quote it here: “Of course I moved on from DFB, through Elsie Jeanette Oxenham and Elinor Brent-Dyer and others, eventually to adult literature.” (2004:15). Now I’m genuinely a fan of Cadogan’s work.Continue reading “Chin up, chest out – hold on a minute”
Did You Ever Stop To Think 