Tom and Some Other Girls: A Public School Story

When Rhoda Chester's father decides his much-loved, but rather over-indulged fifteen-year-old daughter would benefit from being sent away to school and mixing with other girls, Rhoda is all too ready to agree - despite her soft-hearted mother's objections that boarding school would be too much for her daughter. Arriving at Hurst Manor, a school which prepares its pupils for either marriage or a career, Rhoda is dismayed to find herself being teased by Tom (Thomasina), the plain but very popular head girl who thinks Rhoda needs to be taken down a peg or two. Determined to do well academically, Rhoda is also dismayed to find that in some subjects she is way behind the other girls in her form, and she vows to work as hard as she can in order to prove to everyone that she is someone to be taken seriously. Falling out with the very popular Tom, however, is a mistake - especially as underneath Tom's bluff exterior she is rather a 'good egg' and if Rhoda wants to make her life at Hurst Manor a success, it would be wise for her to put her pride aside and take life a little less seriously. But will Rhoda take Tom's advice and try to fit in with the other girls or will she continue to cause problems for herself and others at Hurst Manor? A typical girls' school story which is very much of its time (late Victorian or Edwardian) and one in which it is interesting to see Rhoda having to come to terms with the fact she is nowhere near as important at Hurst Manor as she has been whilst living at home with her governess and doting parents. Although I didn't enjoy this as much as some of the other school stories I've read over the years, and I have to say that I found it rather sentimental in places and the tone a little too moralising for today's reader, I will say that it's a pleasant, easily readable little book and one which worked quite well as an undemanding bedtime read. 3 Stars.

A lovely book about life in a boarding school, and a big one at that. Rhoda Chester is delighted to be sent to Hurst Manor, where she makes new friends, takes examinations, stars in a play and finds a loving young housemistress. There is an unexpected twist in the story, which results in a heart warming, yet slightly predictable, ending. I would recommend for ages 9+. Enjoy!

This is a book with at least three heroines and quite unusual. While not in the league of Dorothea Moore, it is interestingly on the edge of the "revolution" for girls. Do try it.