Nicola goes to the Oberland is not a fill-in but more a spin-off from Elinor M Brent-Dyer’s Chalet School Series. It traces the progress of Nicola, a scholarship girl through her year at St. Mildred’s, the finishing branch, from her dramatic arrival through many gentle adventures to her return.

The pupils are all new faces, but there are some favourite characters here. Set not long after the war the story is not set in any one year, but in my own mind the story takes place soon after Peggy Bettany has left the finishing branch

I see Nicola as you or me, or any of the many Chalet School enthusiasts who have longed to be a pupil there.