The only other new girl to join them is quiet Sally Hope who seems the complete opposite to everyone else in the train carriage. The girls don’t make Gwendoline’s life easy, and Alicia especially says some quite spiteful things to Gwendoline over the course of the book. Gwendoline is painted as a cry baby, spoilt and worst of all in the sporty world of Malory Towers, overweight.

Gwendoline Lacey is also a new girl, however she has none of the characteristics Darrell has which make her so instantly likeable. She reminds me of the ‘popular’ girls at school who would bully you without a thought to your feelings if you got on their wrong side. Alicia does get a little better, but I’ve never really ‘warmed’ to Alicia or understood why you would want her as friend. Darrell takes an instant liking to Alicia, hoping that this older girl will be her special friend.Īlicia comes across as a hard character from the start and I’ve always wondered why Darrell so wants her as a friend when it’s easy for the reader identify her as a a class clown and a bit of a bully. First she is introduced to the sensible Miss Potts who is to be her form mistress and head of North Tower where Darrell is to sleep.įrom the formidable Miss Potts we are then introduced to Alicia Johns, a girl in Darrell’s form who has been at Malory Towers for some time (though we are not told how many terms Alicia has been at the school). Blyton makes it very easy for the reader to relate to Darrell from the beginning, and these nerves that Darrell experience make her more human. The fun really begins when Darrell is plunged into the world of Malory Towers at the station. Naturally Darrell is nervous about her new school, wondering what it will be like and if she’ll make friends. We follow Darrell from her home to the station to catch the train for Cornwall, where Malory Towers is located. It’s nice to have a book start with someone being excited to go off to school and even though the idea of a brown and orange uniform sounds quite unappealing, I do think it could look very nice if matched properly.

We meet an excited Darrell ready to set off to school in her brand new uniform. Malory Towers by illustrator Stanley Lloyd.

First term at malory towers