Published: 2005
This is the second title in Clare Mallory's Merry series and needs no introduction to those who have read Merry Begins.
If you haven't discovered Merry, now is your chance to do so!
Reviews
- Sennen is a term closer its goal of winning the House Cup. The troubles of Merry's first term have been overcome and the whole House is pulling together behind Pauline, its much admired captain.
- Enter a new girl, one Holly Stafford, rough, tough and full of character. The ingredients are plain and wholesome but once again Clare Mallory succeeds in making it all matter terribly.
- I'm personally convinced that Pauline must succeed the elegant Claudia; the fate of nations rests upon it, and no struggle could be more important. Go Bups
- Marcia McGinley
- The second title in Clare Mallory's "Merry" trio, Merry Again, strikes a satisfying chord with readers of schoolgirl fiction.
- Having set the scene of Merry's entree to Tremayne's in the first title, Mallory moves briskly on to introduce the winter term at the Dunedin, New Zealand school - although, apart from little nuances of setting (which do thrill us locals!), the school could easily be set in England.
- All is set to go swimmingly for Merry, her pal Hildreth and their friends in Dormitory 10 - until both Hildreth's mother and their headmistress, Miss Lincoln, ask the pair to look out for new girl Holly. And well they might ask, for Holly proves to be the proverbial thorn in the side of the whole of Sennen House.
- A newcomer to boarding school life, Holly has gone her own way before being sent to Tremayne's, and has no intention of following the rules of the school - and, more particularly, the rule of the prefects. Holly's crimes and her redemption put her firmly at the centre of the action, which strangely leaves the heroine Merry with something of a secondary role in a book which bears her name in its title.
- However, it's the subplots which give a book its special character, and here Mallory shines. The position of "crack" house, which Merry previously helped to win for Sennen, is under threat due to Holly's activities. The way in which the prefects and mistresses deal with this situation and House politics - the neglecting of duties by one House captain in favour of her music and the growth in stature of Pauline, Sennen's house captain, for instance, show that the author is not afraid to treat her readers to the adult point of view.
- Characterisation is also very well done, especially the seniors Pauline and her great friend Diana, the Games Prefect. With its fine introduction by Bettina Vine, an ex-girl of Columba College, the Dunedin school upon which Mallory (its headmistress) based Tremayne's, Merry Again leaves the reader looking forward to the third book of the series.
- Andrea Little
- 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