The third book in the La Rochelle series is set on Guernsey, and we meet Elizabeth, Anne and Janie Temple, whom we come to know so well, both in the La Rochelle series, and also in the Chalet School books when they have become Elizabeth Ozanne, Anne Chester and Janie Lucy. It is an essential link between the La Rochelle and Chalet School series, and the book which will help all those puzzled fans who wonder, in the second half of The Chalet School in Exile and onwards, just why we know these three sisters so well.
But it is not just a title to be read because of its Chalet School links, Maids of La Rochelle is a wonderful story in its own right, a story of three sisters who have to manage on their own, on an island where they have never lived before, and the story of romance for the elder two.
Maids of La Rochelle is the title from where the La Rochelle series got its name, and it follows on immediately after A Head Girl’s Difficulties. It is the title that has sent masses of Elinor Brent-Dyer fans to Guernsey to see the scenes that Elinor described so well. But just how realistic was it?
Christine Woodall, who has lived on Guernsey all her life, has written an introduction about the Island and the reality of Elinor’s portrayal. This is probably the best introduction GGBP have ever published, and it provides some fascinating new information about Elinor and her Guernsey friends.
Maids of La Rochelle was originally reprinted by Friends of the Chalet School in 2001, before the formation of Girls Gone By Publishers. This new GGBP edition features the original cover by Nina K Brisley, and four black and white plates by Nina K Brisley. The text has been completely reset, and Christine Woodall’s introduction is new for this edition.
