Published: 2005
Merry Marches On is the third title in the Merry trilogy.
Those who have loved the earlier adventures of Merry will not find this title a disappointment.
It is set immediately after the term described in Merry Again.
Reviews
- Yes gods! The agony of it! The sheer, appalling unfairness of it! In Merry Again we suffered the impact of one new girl on Sennen's chances of winning the House Cup.
- In Merry Marches on, there are four of them and one of them an absolute fruit cake. But which one? The sweet, overly sensitive sleep walking violinist, or the nasty, snobbish spoilt brat? Goodness, who could it be?
- Once again the fate of nations (otherwise known as Pauline's chance of being Head Girl) is in Merry's good-natured hands. And this is the last term, the one that counts, the one when everything will be decided. Be prepared for nail-biting tension!
- Marcia McGinley
- Judging by the fact that GGBP have sold out of copies of Merry Begins, there are a lot of people who are either already fans of Clare Mallory or have begun their reading of her work with her first book. For those who have not got around to purchasing the subsequent Merry titles, I submit the following review.
- I believe that anyone who has tried Clare Mallory would want to continue to follow the story of her well-developed heroines and to appreciate her confident and polished writing.
- I was very conscious as I re-read these two books that they were first read aloud to the pupils of Columba College as they packed food parcels for Britain during and after World War 2. There are a large number of girls taking part in the action in each book, not only the "Bups" who we had met in Merry Begins, but also pupils from other year levels (e.g. Rhoda and Fen in IVA and the prefects in VI) and other Houses (e.g. Gwethyn and her day-girl friends). They all develop personalities of their own, and anyone who can remember back to their own schooldays or who has taught this age group, will be able to recognise the characters, both minor and major, in these books.
- As in Merry Begins, the action centres around Merry and her friends in IIIA, together with the Prefects, in particular Pauline and Diana, Claudia and Georgie, though Anne, Chris and others also have important parts to play. In each book, new girls provide challenges for the more-established group, allowing insights into the interplay between girls of different temperament or background to be explored. As is to be expected, a happy solution is always arrived at.
- Aspects from Clare Mallory's own life appear. For example, her love of food features in events like midnight feasts and the use of the kitchen in the flat upstairs. Clare Mallory's love and appreciation of names comes through, and possibly she used names of her own pupils for minor characters. Imagine the thrill of hearing your own name mentioned in the story as you persevered with the boring task of sewing up canvas coverings for the food parcels! Clare Mallory did love names and enjoyed using a variety. Many of those in these two books are no longer used regularly today, e.g. Hildreth, Corrina, Esme, Innes, Gwethyn, and even Merry herself whose full name is Rosemerryn; while Karen, Erica, Diana, Pauline, Beth, Jill, and Anne have all stood the test of time and can be met with in any school roll today.
- If you have read only Merry Begins, you must read on to see how the rest of Merry's first year at Tremayne's develops. At the end of Merry Marches On, hints are given as to the future of our heroines. Regrettably, however, the proposed expedition across the Tasman Sea to Australia was never committed to paper, though Clare Mallory did have ideas for this story.
- Patricia Craig, writing in the 2005 Folly Christmas Special, discusses some of the ingredients of the Merry books (games, amateur dramatics and good breeding), and comments that she expected to dislike the books because of that, but doesn't: "a circumstance I can only attribute to the flair and assurance with which her narratives are constructed." And when comparing Clare Mallory's work with other school stories with similar plots, she says: "Mallory is gifted with something that compels assent, and leaves you bemoaning the sparsity of her output."
- Barbara Robertson