Welcome to the School by the Sea: The First School by the Sea Novel (Little School by the Sea, 1)

by Jenny Colgan

Paperback, 2022

Call number

FIC COL

Collection

Publication

Avon (2022), 304 pages

Description

Fiction. Literature. HTML: The first book of Jenny Colgan's delightful new four-part series, set at a charming English boarding school on the sea. Maggie went to the window and opened it wide, inhaling the lovely salt air off the sea. Why had she never lived by the sea before? Why had she always looked out on housing estates and not the little white hulls of trawlers bobbing off in the distance? It's gloriously sunny in Cornwall as the school year starts at the little boarding school by the sea. Maggie, the newest teacher at Downey House, is determined to make her mark. She's delighted by her new teaching job, but will it come at the expense of her relationship with her safe, dependable boyfriend Stan? Simone is excited and nervous: she's won a scholarship to the prestigious boarding school and wants to make her parents proud. Forced to share a room with the glossy, posh girls of Downey House, she needs to find a friend, fast. Fliss is furious. She's never wanted to go to boarding school and hates being sent away from her home. As Simone tries desperately to fit in, Fliss tries desperately to get out. Over the course of one year, friendships will bloom and lives will be changed forever. Life at the Little School by the Sea is never dull....… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member Kris_Anderson
Welcome to the School by the Sea by Jenny Colgan is the first book in Little School by the Sea series. I later discovered that this is a reprint. It was originally released under the author’s pen name Jane Beaton. The book comes across more as a young adult novel than women’s fiction. I started
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reading this story and was quickly confused, frustrated, and upset. I thought Welcome to the School by the Sea would be warm, upbeat story based on the description. I was very wrong. In the beginning, we are introduced to character after character without getting much detail. I wish so many characters had not been introduced in one chapter. The transitions are choppy. The main focus is on Maggie Adair who decides to interview for a job at the posh Downey House, a boarding school for girls. She gets the position as an English instructor. Maggie leaves her boyfriend, Stan behind (I really do not know what she sees in him) to take the teaching position. We meet Veronica Deveral, Fliss, Alice, and Simone. Fliss is a new student at the school and is going against her will. She wishes to stay at home with her parents and attend the local school. Fliss (aka Felicity) will do whatever it takes to get back home. I wish we had been told why her parents were so adamant about sending her to Downey House. Alice is a legacy student. Her siblings have attended, and they have not endeared themselves to the headmistress. Alice, unfortunately, is just like them. She acts innocent, but she is usually at the center of the mischief. Simone is a girl lucky enough to win a scholarship to the school (she may be bullied but she will get a first-class education). The girl is a little overweight from all the cakes, pies, and sweets in her home. Simone’s weight is mentioned repeatedly throughout the book. I was not a fan of the fat shaming. There is more to a person than their weight. There is too much bullying in this book. Anyone who has endured bullying should not read this story (it will give you bad flashbacks). There are also numerous references to class differences. Maggie and Simone are picked on because they do not come from wealthy backgrounds like the majority of the students or staff. I had a difficult time finishing Welcome to the School by the Sea. I wish there had been a warning on the book about the bullying, emotional abuse, and fat shaming. I felt bad for Simone. I found the story to be shallow, cliched, and predictable. I was disappointed with the ending. There is also foul language in the book and talk about intimate situations. There were too many storylines stuffed into this one book along the stilted writing. There is a preview of Rules at the School by the Sea at the end, but I will not be reading it. Welcome to the School by the Sea was a disappointment from beginning to end.
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LibraryThing member wyvernfriend
A boarding school story for adults. The author admits that she was fascinated by boarding school stories when she was younger and that this was a natural progression of that fascination. And it is. While the cover bills it as "the secret diary of a teacher in turmoil" it isn't really what it is.
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This isn't a story of diary entries or a first person look at the world but a story of a woman working in teaching in a boarding school and the variety of issues that crop up.

But like a lot of this genre any issues that happen are skimmed rather than explored and it does give the feel of the boarding school story. Some of the issues explored are the kind of thing that crops up in most schools but there's no real exploration of the whys and wherefores. Maggie Adair, our heroine, is due some hard looking at life stuff and needs to explore issues rather than hope that they will go away.

While the author claims that this is new territory she's exploring it really isn't, but fans of the genre will like it.
It's nothing major and it really is quite typical chick-lit but it was a fun and quick read.
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LibraryThing member dieseltaylor
Not at all escapist as one might have hoped if raised on the boarding school series of the last century.
LibraryThing member Kek55
Originally published under a pseudonym, Colgan is reissuing her first two books in this series under her own name, and hopes to write several more. This is solid fodder for Colgan fans and for anyone who sought out boarding school stories in their younger days.

Colgan delves into the experiences of
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several first-yeat students, as well as a new teacher's ups and downs throughout the first year of boarding school life. There's plenty of drama and growth and adventure to enjoy, and a likely series to look forward to.
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LibraryThing member Twink
Welcome to the School by the Sea is Jenny Colgan‘s latest release in North America. It’s the first of a planned four part series.
I love Jenny Colgan's writing! Her books are just comforting, feel good, sit back, lose yourself in a story reads. In this latest, Colgan takes us to a boarding
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school for girls in England. Maggie is the the new, young addition to the teaching staff. She hails from Scotland. And she's about to have all her preconceived dreams of a wonderful new teaching experience challenged.

Maggie is quite likable - she's not perfect, but has a kind heart and good intentions. I quite liked her inner dialogue. There’s a range of personalities amongst the girls with a social hierarchy you'd (sadly) find in any group setting. One of the girls is especially nasty. My heart was with Simone, a scholarship student who has a very difficult time at Downey Hall. As Maggie circumvents the pitfalls, the joys and the unexpected surprises of her new post, she too is hampered by the girls' attitudes, but sometimes helped as well. Let’s not forget about the teachers - some are some strict disciplinarians, rule followers and some are mired in same age old ways. Colgan gives one of the senior staff an unexpected story line. Now, what about that boys school just over the hill? There’s a rather attractive history professor there - and that presents another dilemma for Maggie. Will she succumb to her feelings or is she loyal to the boyfriend she left back at home? I can’t say I agree with every decision that Maggie meets but that’s what makes her human and relatable.

There are some unanswered questions and I'm keen to see where Colgan takes things. I wonder if the same group of girls will be back, a little bit older and a bit wiser. And I'm very eager to see how the romantic plot line unfolds. It's all about the characters for me in Colgan's writing and this latest is no exception. I can’t wait to see what the second book - Rules at the School by the Sea, due out in August 2022 - brings.

I chose to listen to Welcome to the School by the Sea. Jilly Bond is the narrator and she does an absolutely fantastic job! She’s provides unique and distinctive voices for all of the characters. It's easy to suss out who is speaking. She captures the personalities of all the characters - young, old, male and female with her voice and I easily created vivid mental images of each one. She portrays the emotions of the characters as well. I did end up turning down the speed a notch or two as she is a quick speaker and that was perfect for me.
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LibraryThing member lhaines56
This book sort of trudged along ---surprising since I love everything else she has written. Maybe she is gearing towards a younger reader???
LibraryThing member m.belljackson
Maggie Adair starts off well, searching for new inspiration and so leaving her longtime boyfriend and apartment in Glasgow for a oddly appealing
job by the ocean in Cornwall, England.

While the new situations she meets with her unpredictable students are challenging, she does not fully comprehend or
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handle them,
showing a lot less of a strong character than originally anticipated.

Readers may hope she weighs in to help Simone lose a lot of weight for a healthier body and lasting lifestyle,
with enough confidence to stand up for herself when she is accused of stealing.
The stealing trope went on way too long and was simply annoying, as were the snarky girls.

The Headmistress has the best backstory and rises as the most intriguing character for future reading.
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LibraryThing member mchwest
This was a great start to a series Jennny Colgan is writing about a new teacher at a small private girls school near the sea. I love Jennys approach to describing nature and the problems her characters occur in her books. I will forever have one of hers on my TBR shelf for when I need to fall back
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on a perfect read. I look forward to the next installment in late August!
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LibraryThing member quondame
I guess I'm not a fan of boarding school books, or at least this one offers nothing to make me so. A headmistress, a new teacher from a poor public school in Glasgow, and two starting students, a rich girl who doesn't want to be there and the scholarship girl who does are the viewpoint characters,
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but none of them made more real than ridiculous by the described emotions, and gosh wow things work out.
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Pages

304

ISBN

006314171X / 9780063141711
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