Boarding school

A boarding school is a self-contained educational establishment where students not only study but where some or all students may live.

Boarding schools in fiction

Boarding schools and their surrounding settings and situations have become almost a genre in (mostly) British literature with its own identifiable conventions. Notable examples include:

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• Charles Dickens's Nicholas Nickleby serialised novel (1838)
• Thomas Hughes's Tom Brown's Schooldays novel (1857)
• Rudyard Kipling's Stalky & Co novel (1899)
• Frank Richards's Billy Bunter long-running series (from 1908)
• Hugh Walpole's Jeremy at Crale novel (1927)
• James Hilton's Goodbye, Mr. Chips novel (1934)
• Enid Blyton's Malory Towers, St. Clare's and the Naughtiest Girl series of children's novels
• Elinor Brent-Dyer's Chalet School series of children's novels
• Antonia Forest's Marlow family stories, four of which are set at the fictional Kingscote School for Girls
• Anthony Buckeridge's Jennings series of children's stories (from 1950)
• Muriel Spark's The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie novel (1961)
• Ronald Searle's, Molesworth and St Trinian's series of books (1948 onwards)
• J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series of novels (1990s onwards)
• Pacific Coast Academy in the Nickelodeon's television series Zoey 101

There is also a huge boarding-school genre literature, mostly uncollected, in British comics and serials from the 1900s to the 1980s.

Related Topics:
1900s - 1980s

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The setting has also featured in notable North American novels such as J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye; John Irving's A Prayer for Owen Meany; and John Knowles's A Separate Peace.

Related Topics:
J.D. Salinger - Catcher in the Rye - John Irving - A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Knowles - A Separate Peace

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