Some - like Darrell and Sally - seem far too perfect. The characters of the girls in the books are quite strong, but not quite believable. Mavis and Amanda are good examples of this. When they realise the errors of their ways, their skill is restored to them. In several instances girls are extremely proud and puffed up about a skill, only to ruin the skill through greed, pride and stupidity. The books also seem to promote bullying in a subtle way - often girls are quite horrible to others, saying they are merely 'taking her down a peg' or 'licking her into shape'.Ī recurring theme in the books is pride comes before a fall. However the author does seem to imply that if you are very good at one thing, you will definitely be absent-minded and terrible at others.

The racism in the books is kept to a reasonably low level - only the French teachers are discriminated against. There are therefore no references to boys being stronger or better than girls. The school is an all-girls school, and boys (the brothers of one girl) only appear fleetingly. Unlike most Enid Blyton books, there is no sexism appearing in Malory Towers. This series is different Darrell is looking forward to going to boarding school, and tries hard once she's there. They resolve to perform as badly as possible. In most of Enid Blyton's other school stories, the main character/s arrive as new girl/s, feeling miserable about being sent to boarding school. The school is located near the sea, and has an excellent seawater pool the girls love to bathe in. Each form contains girls from all four houses. Girls are placed in a tower, where the dormitories and common rooms are located, but have lessons with their form. The school - situated in Cornwall - is separated into four towers (North Tower, South Tower, East Tower and West Tower). The first book opens with Darrell about to begin her first term at an all-girls boarding school, Malory Towers. Enid Blyton uses incidents in the books to make moral points.ĭarrell Rivers 2 is the main character of the books. Some terms are therefore left unchronicled. Each of the six books in the series represents one term from each of the six years, rather than one whole year.

At Malory Towers students stay for three terms for six years. The books were written one each year from 1946 to 1951 and presumably set during a similar time 1. Malory Towers is a series of books by Enid Blyton about girls at a boarding school.

Third term at malory towers