This book examines school and college fiction for girls in Britain and the United States, written in the first half of the twentieth century, to explore the formation and ideologies of feminine identity. Nancy G. Rosoff and Stephanie Spencer develop a transnational framework that recognises how both constructed and essential femininities transcend national boundaries. The book discusses the significance and performance of female friendship across time and place, which is central to the development of the genre, and how it functioned as an important means of informal education. Stories by Jessie Graham Flower, Pauline Lester, Alice Ross Colver, Elinor Brent-Dyer, and Dorita Fairlie Bruce are set within their historical context and then used to explore aspects of sociability, authority, responsibility, domesticity, and possibility. The distinctiveness of this book stems from the historical analysis of these sources, which have so far primarily been treated by literary scholars within their national context. Winner of the History of Education Society Anne Bloomfield Prize for the best book on history of education published in English 2017-19

Inspired by a vacation to the Austrian Alps, Elinor M. Brent-Dyer wrote The School at the Chalet, launching a series that would span more than 60 books. The series follows the adventures of a boarding school set in the picturesque Swiss Alps. The series begins with The School at the Chalet (1925), where readers are introduced to Miss Madge Bettany, a young woman who decides to start a school for girls in the Swiss mountains. The series then chronicles the growth and evolution of the school, as well as the trials and triumphs of its students.

In this book, Rosemary Auchmuty looks at school novels with popular female heroines, such as the Abbey Girl books and the Chalet School series. She questions their ability to portray strong, independent women, and asks why the female authors often resort to the conventions of society, marrying the characters off into a life of domesticity.

Examines the work of four authors: Elsie Jeanette Oxenham, Dorita Fairlie Bruce, Elinor Mary Brent-Dyer and Enid Blyton.

Vols. for 1871-76, 1913-14 include an extra number, The Christmas bookseller, separately paged and not included in the consecutive numbering of the regular series.