Schoolgirl Rivals

Kitty Despard arrives at Easthampton College from Australia with her hockey stick and her pride, ready to take on the English establishment. The year is the late 1920s, and the social hierarchies at this prestigious boarding school are as fixed as the Gothic architecture that surrounds her. Carslake's House has a reputation for being the laughingstock of the school, but Kitty has no intention of being laughed at. What follows is a story of fierce athletic competition, reluctant friendships, and the endless battle between houses for dominance on the playing field. Kitty's Australian directness and her formidable sports skills make her both a threat and an anomaly in a world where English girls are supposed to be cool, collected, and above it all. But underneath the inter-house rivalries and the endless chatter about standings and scores, this is a story about finding where you belong when everything is strange and foreign. Brenda Page writes with energy and wit about the high stakes of adolescent life, where a lost hockey match feels like the end of the world and a rival's smile can mean everything. For readers who loved Enid Blyton or Angela Thirkell, or anyone who remembers what it felt like to be the new girl with everything to prove.