Jenny Colgan's Little School by the Sea series... Just like Malory Towers for grown-ups?

[db105]

Is anyone familiar with this series? It caught my eye because it advertises itself as "Malory Towers for grown-ups".

It seems to be some kind of cozy romance from the point of view of a teacher in a Malory-Towers-style school, although in a modern setting, who falls in love with a teacher from a nearby boys' school. There's also some typical boarding school storylines.

There are two books out with the third coming out in a few months.

[Fiona1986]

The third has been out for a while.

I've read and reviewed them all recently. I enjoyed them but then again they are my sort of books and I have read quite a few Jenny Colgans.

[db105]

I guess that they are reissuing the books in a new edition, so that's why the third one is listed with a publication date next year in Amazon.

In any case... is it similar to Malory Towers? Is the emphasis on the romance or on the boarding school stories?

[Fiona1986]

It's a mix of both. It's mostly from the perspective of Maggie Adair, the new teacher, so the trials and tribulations of boarding school life are primarily from the POV of teaching and managing the class, her friendship (or enmity) with other teachers but there is some focus on the small group of girls that Maggie is responsible for. The romance is very much a will-they-won't-they that still isn't entirely resolved by the end of book three, so it comes and goes in the plot seeing as her romantic interest teaches at a different school.

You can see where Malory Towers/St Clare's has influenced Jenny Colgan (at least I think I can) but obviously it's set in the present(ish) day which is quite a different world to the 1940s.

I do recommend them for Blyton fans, though, especially if you like Jenny Colgan and/or women's fiction in her genre.

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