Malory Towers

Story

Darrell Rivers is twelve-years old and on the way to her new boarding school: Malory Towers. But what awaits her there? Despite making some friends, she also makes an enemy rather quickly, Gwendoline Mary Lacey. Lessons are to be learnt through this, as Darrell discovers what friendship really means…

Why we chose it

Malory Towers is one of the most read boarding school story series. The books follow Darrell from her first year to her final year at Malory Towers and generations of girls have grown up with her.

Where it came from

Enid Blyton (1897-1968) has been one of the world’s bestselling authors since the 1930s, having sold more than 600 million copies in 90 languages worldwide. She is believed to have written 700 books in her lifetime. Blyton has her own trademark and legacy, as well as having a society dedicated to her, formed in 1995.

Malory Towers was based on her own experiences at boarding school and those of her daughter.

Where it went next

There are six books in the Malory Towers series- one for each of the years Darrell is at the school.

In 2009 Pamela Cox wrote a series of six sequels focusing on Darrell’s younger sister Felicity and her classmates.

In 2016 a 70^th Anniversary edition was published, to mark the original publication in 1946.

New Class at Malory Towers includes four new stories written by well known authors (Patrice Lawrence, Lucy Mangan, Rebecca Westmacott and Narinder Dhami) about four new characters

Malory Towers was adapted for television by CBBC in 2020 and in 2019 became a stage musical by Emma Rice and her Wise Children company.

Associated stories

Blyton wrote two other school series, The Naughtiest Girl in the School and St Clares. She wrote a number of other series including The Famous Five, The Secret Seven and The Magic Faraway Tree .