Harriet Martyn
Author of Jenny and the Syndicate
Series
Works by Harriet Martyn
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Lady Sara Elena Collins
- Birthdate
- 1930-08-22
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- UK
- Birthplace
- Chelsea, London, England, UK
- Education
- Miss Fauncey's School
- Occupations
- Children's Author
- Short biography
- 'Harriet Martyn' is a pseudonym of Lady Sarah Collins, born Sarah Hely-Hutchinson, the daughter of the 7th Earl of Donoughmore, in Chelsea, London, in 1930. Educated at Miss Fauncey's school, and then finishing school, she married publisher William Janson Collins in 1951, and had one son and three daughters.
Her trilogy of school stories set at Balcombe Hall was originally envisioned as a mother-daughter project, one intended to revisit a genre both had enjoyed as young women, although it quickly became a solo endeavor.
Members
Reviews
Jenny Baily, her sisters and her friends all return to Balcombe Hall for another term in this sequel to Jenny and the Syndicate. Here they find themselves in conflict with the new assistant headmistress, Miss Vaux - nicknamed "The Sphinx" - who is deeply unpleasant, and often unfair. Jenny is assigned to be Caroline Vaux's 'sheepdog' (guide) in her first days at school, but neglects her charge, both because she doesn't like Caroline's mother, and because she is more concerned with Jamie, the spaniel she had smuggled onto school grounds. Sylvia and her friends in the Syndicate, in the meantime, get into open conflict with Miss Vaux, and although Miss Hamilton, the wise mistress from the first book, helps to smooth things over, tensions remain. The book closes with the kidnapping of Ariel, daughter of one of Britain's most famous actresses, and Sylvia's brave actions in attempting to rescue her. All ends well, of course, and it is revealed that Miss Hamilton is to be the new headmistress, rather than Miss Vaux ...
The second of three novels in the Balcombe Hall trilogy - begun in Jenny and the Syndicate, continued here, and concluded in Jenny and the New Girls - Jenny and the New Headmistress is an engaging example of the girls' school story genre. Most of the narrative developments here - the puppy smuggled into school, the unhappy new girl, the schoolgirl rebellion against an unpopular teacher - are well established in this kind of story, although Harriet Martyn (a pseudonym of Lady Sarah Collins) uses them to spin an entertaining tale. It's more unusual to have a truly unpleasant and unjust authority figure, as Miss Vaux reveals herself to be at times. Her actions, in punishing the entire form in order to force Sylvia to admit to a transgression she had not committed, feel both manipulative and harsh. Sylvia's response to Miss Vaux's idea of a marching competition for the girls - she compares it to the Hitler Youth - is a pointed commentary in this regard. I'm not sure if the author meant to create that impression, exactly - I suspect Miss Hamilton's intercession is meant to demonstrate that authority is indeed just, in the end - but it was still quite interesting. Recommended to anyone who has read and enjoyed Jenny and the Syndicate, if they can track it down, of course.… (more)
The second of three novels in the Balcombe Hall trilogy - begun in Jenny and the Syndicate, continued here, and concluded in Jenny and the New Girls - Jenny and the New Headmistress is an engaging example of the girls' school story genre. Most of the narrative developments here - the puppy smuggled into school, the unhappy new girl, the schoolgirl rebellion against an unpopular teacher - are well established in this kind of story, although Harriet Martyn (a pseudonym of Lady Sarah Collins) uses them to spin an entertaining tale. It's more unusual to have a truly unpleasant and unjust authority figure, as Miss Vaux reveals herself to be at times. Her actions, in punishing the entire form in order to force Sylvia to admit to a transgression she had not committed, feel both manipulative and harsh. Sylvia's response to Miss Vaux's idea of a marching competition for the girls - she compares it to the Hitler Youth - is a pointed commentary in this regard. I'm not sure if the author meant to create that impression, exactly - I suspect Miss Hamilton's intercession is meant to demonstrate that authority is indeed just, in the end - but it was still quite interesting. Recommended to anyone who has read and enjoyed Jenny and the Syndicate, if they can track it down, of course.… (more)
Jenny Baily comes to Balcombe Hall, the girls' boarding school where her two older sisters are established pupils - Mary as a member of a group of rebellious Lower Fifth Form girls calling themselves "The Syndicate," and Jessica as the Head Girl, a position she must forego for a time, when an illness keeps her at home - in this engaging children's novel. Our eponymous heroine soon finds herself fast friends with Ariel Fortescue, the rebellious daughter of a famous actress, and involved in all kinds of trouble. There's the Syndicate itself, led by Mary's friend Sylvia, that has taken it upon itself to torment the staff, and foment every kind of scheme and rebellion. This group may have met their match in the form of the new teacher, Miss Hamilton. Then there's the dissension in the upper ranks of the school, after timid vicar's daughter Helen is named temporary Head Girl in Jessica's place, rather than the ambitious and bullying Olive. It is in relation to the latter that Jenny takes her first real stand at school, speaking out in Council Meeting to question the right of girls who are not Sixth Form seniors to command the younger pupils to do tasks for them. In doing so she exposes the rule-breaking of Olive and her set, and becomes a heroine to the girls in the Third Form. Other adventures follow, over the course of the year, but all ends well, with the return of Jessica, and the reform of the Syndicate ...
The first of a trilogy of school stories set at Balcombe Hall - the subsequent two titles were Jenny and the New Headmistress and Jenny and the New Girls - Jenny and the Syndicate was first published in 1982, and was apparently inspired by its author's love of the genre. According to Sue Sims and Hilary Clare's The Encyclopaedia of Girls' School Stories, 'Harriet Martyn' was a pseudonym used by Lady Sarah Collins, the daughter of the 7th Earl of Donoughmore, who began the series as part of a mother-daughter project, before continuing on by herself. Whatever the case may be, I found this an engaging tale, and a fun addition to the girls' school-story genre. The theme of the rebellious cadre of girls is not so unusual in this sort of book, but the way in which Miss Hamilton dealt with the Syndicate - having them strip off their offending articles of clothing, worn in a gesture of defiance, in the middle of class, and continue for the rest of their lesson in a state of semi-dress - had me chuckling. That isn't something one would have seen in older examples of the genre! I was more than a little surprised, and considerably less charmed at some of the language here - the use of "bitchy" and "bitchiness" by some of the schoolgirl characters - which is also something one wouldn't have seen in older books. To be honest, I'm a little shocked to find it in a children's book from the 80s. I know that 'ass' is considered uncontroversial in children's books in the UK, as it is used to mean "idiot" or "fool" - something I discovered when I encountered it in Antonia Forrest's Autumn Term - but surely "bitch" is considered to be just as nasty and denigrating a word there, as it is here in the states?
Leaving aside that one discordant note, this is a book I would recommend to all fans of the girls' school story genre. It can be a little difficult to track down - I read it at my university library, when taking my masters - but it is a pleasant little creampuff of a story, if one does manage it.… (more)
The first of a trilogy of school stories set at Balcombe Hall - the subsequent two titles were Jenny and the New Headmistress and Jenny and the New Girls - Jenny and the Syndicate was first published in 1982, and was apparently inspired by its author's love of the genre. According to Sue Sims and Hilary Clare's The Encyclopaedia of Girls' School Stories, 'Harriet Martyn' was a pseudonym used by Lady Sarah Collins, the daughter of the 7th Earl of Donoughmore, who began the series as part of a mother-daughter project, before continuing on by herself. Whatever the case may be, I found this an engaging tale, and a fun addition to the girls' school-story genre. The theme of the rebellious cadre of girls is not so unusual in this sort of book, but the way in which Miss Hamilton dealt with the Syndicate - having them strip off their offending articles of clothing, worn in a gesture of defiance, in the middle of class, and continue for the rest of their lesson in a state of semi-dress - had me chuckling. That isn't something one would have seen in older examples of the genre! I was more than a little surprised, and considerably less charmed at some of the language here - the use of "bitchy" and "bitchiness" by some of the schoolgirl characters - which is also something one wouldn't have seen in older books. To be honest, I'm a little shocked to find it in a children's book from the 80s. I know that 'ass' is considered uncontroversial in children's books in the UK, as it is used to mean "idiot" or "fool" - something I discovered when I encountered it in Antonia Forrest's Autumn Term - but surely "bitch" is considered to be just as nasty and denigrating a word there, as it is here in the states?
Leaving aside that one discordant note, this is a book I would recommend to all fans of the girls' school story genre. It can be a little difficult to track down - I read it at my university library, when taking my masters - but it is a pleasant little creampuff of a story, if one does manage it.… (more)
Statistics
- Works
- 3
- Members
- 15
- Popularity
- #708,120
- Rating
- 3.0
- Reviews
- 3
- ISBNs
- 4
On the whole, I found Jenny and the New Girls to be the weakest of the trilogy, featuring a cast of new characters with whom I had great deal of difficulty sympathizing. The eponymous new girls were irritating, and the twins' objections were often petty. Surprisingly, I didn't find working class Maggie's travails any more appealing, although I normally enjoy "fish out of water" stories in which the common man (or girl) makes good. Much as in Jenny and the New Headmistress, authority figures here are questionable in their judgment. Mrs. Gould of course, with her abusive conduct, is completely illegitimate, but Miss Hamilton also sometimes displays a lack of evenhandedness in her treatment of the School House girls that is disturbing. Perhaps we are meant to think that, liking them better, she is harder on them? Whatever the case may be, although I was glad to have read this, in order to complete the trilogy, I do not highly recommend it, for its own sake.… (more)