Terms and Conditions
Life in Girls' Boarding Schools, 1939-1979
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $19.18
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Christine Kavanagh
About this listen
When I asked a group of girls who had been at Hatherop Castle in the 1960s whether the school had had a lab in those days they gave me a blank look. 'A laboratory?' I expanded, hoping to jog their memories. 'Oh that kind of lab!' one of them said. 'I thought you meant a Labrador.'
As we discover from Ysenda Maxtone Graham's quietly hilarious history of life in British girls' boarding schools between 1939 and 1979, this was a not untypical reaction. Today it's hard to grasp the casual carelessness and even hostility with which the middle and upper classes once approached the schooling of their daughters. Education, far from being regarded as something that would set a girl up for life, was seen as a handicap which could render her too unattractive for marriage, and, with some notable exceptions such as Cheltenham, schools went along with the idea.
While their brothers at Eton and Harrow were writing Latin verse and doing quadratic equations, girls were being allowed to give up any subject they found too difficult and were instead learning how to lay the table for lunch. Fathers tended to choose schools for arbitrary and often frankly frivolous reasons. Hatherop, for example, was popular with some because of its proximity to Cheltenham Racecourse. One girl's parents chose Heathfield 'because none of the girls had spots'. Not surprising, perhaps, that many of them left school without a single O-level.
Harsh matrons, freezing dormitories and appalling food predominated, but at some schools you could take your pony with you, and occasionally these eccentric establishments - closed now or reformed - imbued in their pupils a lifetime love of the arts and a real thirst for self-education.
In Terms and Conditions, Ysenda speaks to members of a lost tribe - boarding school women, now grandmothers and the backbone of the nation - who look back on their experiences with a mixture of horror and humour.
©2017 Ysenda Maxtone Graham (P)2017 Audible, LtdListeners also enjoyed...
-
The Fine Print
- Dreamland Billionaires, Book 1
- By: Lauren Asher
- Narrated by: Desiree Ketchum, Aiden Snow
- Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
I'm in the business of creating fairy tales. Theme parks. Production companies. Five-star hotels. Everything could be all mine if I renovated Dreamland. My initial idea of hiring Zahra was good in theory, but then I kissed her. Things spiraled out of control once I texted her using an alias. By the time I realized where I went wrong, it was too late. People like me don't get happy endings. Not when we're destined to ruin them.
-
-
SO GOOD!!
- By Kel on 01-17-23
By: Lauren Asher
-
We Own the Sky
- By: Luke Allnutt
- Narrated by: Will M. Watt
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Rob Coates feels like he's won the lottery of life. There is Anna, his incredible wife, their London townhouse, and, most precious of all, Jack, their son, who makes every day an extraordinary adventure. But when a devastating illness befalls his family, Rob's world begins to unravel. Suddenly finding himself alone, Rob seeks solace in photographing the skyscrapers and clifftops he and his son, Jack, used to visit. And just when it seems that all hope is lost, Rob embarks on the most unforgettable of journeys to find his way back to life and forgiveness.
-
-
This book wrecked me
- By N. Thompson on 05-13-19
By: Luke Allnutt
-
Twisted Love
- Twisted, Book 1
- By: Ana Huang
- Narrated by: Cindy Kay, Aiden Snow
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Alex Volkov is a devil blessed with the face of an angel and cursed with a past he can't escape. Driven by a tragedy that has haunted him for most of his life, his ruthless pursuits for success and vengeance leave little room for matters of the heart. But when he's forced to look after his best friend's sister, he starts to feel something in his chest. Ava Chen is a free spirit trapped by nightmares of a childhood she can't remember. But despite her past, she's never stopped seeing the beauty in the world . . . including the heart beneath the icy exterior of a man she shouldn't want.
-
-
WHYYYYY THE HYPE
- By KOKO on 11-14-22
By: Ana Huang
-
Falcon Falls Security Boxed Set, Books 1-3
- By: Brittney Sahin
- Narrated by: Ava Lucas, Tyler Johnson, Connor Crais
- Length: 37 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Falcon Falls Security Series Box Set includes the following three military romantic suspense titles: The Hunted One, The Broken One, The Guarded One.
-
-
The story is amazing.
- By Leah on 09-13-24
By: Brittney Sahin
-
Punk 57
- By: Penelope Douglas
- Narrated by: Laurie Catherine Winkel, Matthew Holland
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In fifth grade my teacher set us up with pen pals from a different school. Thinking I was a girl, with a name like Misha, the other teacher paired me up with her student Ryen. My teacher, believing Ryen was a boy like me, agreed. It didn't take long for us to figure out the mistake. And in no time at all, we were arguing about everything. The best take-out pizza. Android vs. iPhone. Whether or not Eminem is the greatest rapper ever. For the next seven years, it was us. She's the only one who keeps me on track, talks me down, and accepts everything I am.
-
-
Way better than expected
- By Abigail French on 09-13-17
By: Penelope Douglas
-
A Long Time Coming
- By: Meghan Quinn
- Narrated by: Erin Mallon, J.F. Harding
- Length: 12 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With wedding planning underway and a short timeline, my best friend, Lia, has recruited me to help her battle the snarly beast that is Mrs. Beaver. Not scared at all, I accept the challenge as her man-in-waiting--aka, man of honor--and take matters into my own hands. The only problem is, with every second we draw closer to the wedding, I'm starting to see my best girl in a different light. She's always been beautiful to me, but now . . . I find myself staring a touch too long. My hand lingering for one more minute. And when she's upset? Allowing her to sleep in my bed.
-
-
Another audio with duet where the quality sucks
- By AC on 01-22-23
By: Meghan Quinn
-
The Fine Print
- Dreamland Billionaires, Book 1
- By: Lauren Asher
- Narrated by: Desiree Ketchum, Aiden Snow
- Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
I'm in the business of creating fairy tales. Theme parks. Production companies. Five-star hotels. Everything could be all mine if I renovated Dreamland. My initial idea of hiring Zahra was good in theory, but then I kissed her. Things spiraled out of control once I texted her using an alias. By the time I realized where I went wrong, it was too late. People like me don't get happy endings. Not when we're destined to ruin them.
-
-
SO GOOD!!
- By Kel on 01-17-23
By: Lauren Asher
-
We Own the Sky
- By: Luke Allnutt
- Narrated by: Will M. Watt
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Rob Coates feels like he's won the lottery of life. There is Anna, his incredible wife, their London townhouse, and, most precious of all, Jack, their son, who makes every day an extraordinary adventure. But when a devastating illness befalls his family, Rob's world begins to unravel. Suddenly finding himself alone, Rob seeks solace in photographing the skyscrapers and clifftops he and his son, Jack, used to visit. And just when it seems that all hope is lost, Rob embarks on the most unforgettable of journeys to find his way back to life and forgiveness.
-
-
This book wrecked me
- By N. Thompson on 05-13-19
By: Luke Allnutt
-
Twisted Love
- Twisted, Book 1
- By: Ana Huang
- Narrated by: Cindy Kay, Aiden Snow
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Alex Volkov is a devil blessed with the face of an angel and cursed with a past he can't escape. Driven by a tragedy that has haunted him for most of his life, his ruthless pursuits for success and vengeance leave little room for matters of the heart. But when he's forced to look after his best friend's sister, he starts to feel something in his chest. Ava Chen is a free spirit trapped by nightmares of a childhood she can't remember. But despite her past, she's never stopped seeing the beauty in the world . . . including the heart beneath the icy exterior of a man she shouldn't want.
-
-
WHYYYYY THE HYPE
- By KOKO on 11-14-22
By: Ana Huang
-
Falcon Falls Security Boxed Set, Books 1-3
- By: Brittney Sahin
- Narrated by: Ava Lucas, Tyler Johnson, Connor Crais
- Length: 37 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Falcon Falls Security Series Box Set includes the following three military romantic suspense titles: The Hunted One, The Broken One, The Guarded One.
-
-
The story is amazing.
- By Leah on 09-13-24
By: Brittney Sahin
-
Punk 57
- By: Penelope Douglas
- Narrated by: Laurie Catherine Winkel, Matthew Holland
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In fifth grade my teacher set us up with pen pals from a different school. Thinking I was a girl, with a name like Misha, the other teacher paired me up with her student Ryen. My teacher, believing Ryen was a boy like me, agreed. It didn't take long for us to figure out the mistake. And in no time at all, we were arguing about everything. The best take-out pizza. Android vs. iPhone. Whether or not Eminem is the greatest rapper ever. For the next seven years, it was us. She's the only one who keeps me on track, talks me down, and accepts everything I am.
-
-
Way better than expected
- By Abigail French on 09-13-17
By: Penelope Douglas
-
A Long Time Coming
- By: Meghan Quinn
- Narrated by: Erin Mallon, J.F. Harding
- Length: 12 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With wedding planning underway and a short timeline, my best friend, Lia, has recruited me to help her battle the snarly beast that is Mrs. Beaver. Not scared at all, I accept the challenge as her man-in-waiting--aka, man of honor--and take matters into my own hands. The only problem is, with every second we draw closer to the wedding, I'm starting to see my best girl in a different light. She's always been beautiful to me, but now . . . I find myself staring a touch too long. My hand lingering for one more minute. And when she's upset? Allowing her to sleep in my bed.
-
-
Another audio with duet where the quality sucks
- By AC on 01-22-23
By: Meghan Quinn
Related to this topic
-
How to Say It: Words That Make a Difference
- By: Allison Friederichs Atkison, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Allison Friederichs Atkison
- Length: 4 hrs and 44 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Words. We use them all the time, every day, mostly without giving them much thought at all. We take for granted that they’re here at our disposal whenever we need them. But if you’ve ever wished you could communicate more effectively, words are the place to start. It’s incumbent upon you to choose the best words to accomplish your goals, because how you choose to communicate influences—well, everything! The power of communication shapes our professional goals, our relationships, and our lives—so the words we choose to use carry a great deal of power.
-
-
Meh. Glad I didn't pay for it.
- By Paula on 07-23-22
By: Allison Friederichs Atkison, and others
-
How to Release Anxiety
- By: Gabrielle Bernstein
- Narrated by: Gabrielle Bernstein
- Length: 1 hr and 29 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s not just you. Stress levels are at an all-time high—so much so that a recently convened panel of medical experts in the US has recommended that all adults under the age of 65 be screened for anxiety. In How to Release Anxiety, Gabby Bernstein offers simple, actionable steps for feeling better, living with more ease, and showing up for those around us. Gabby’s unusual advice: Rather than manage your anxiety, what if you befriended it? Gabby posits that what we befriend, we can ultimately be at ease with. So she invites us to get curious.
-
-
Not my thing, but one good point
- By Scott on 10-22-22
-
Manifest Now
- By: Idil Ahmed
- Narrated by: Idil Ahmed
- Length: 4 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Manifest Now provides a step-by-step guide with tools, techniques, and proven strategies to raise your frequency and create the reality you want. This audiobook is designed to guide you through the mental, physical, and spiritual aspects of manifesting and creating all that your heart desires. You'll learn how to start removing mental and emotional blocks so you can rediscover that manifesting is your natural birthright. You'll feel more confident, reconnected, and powerful as you listen.
-
-
This is my first review of 2 years subscribed!
- By Rodrigo on 02-22-19
By: Idil Ahmed
-
30 Covert Emotional Manipulation Tactics: How Manipulators Take Control in Personal Relationships
- By: Adelyn Birch
- Narrated by: Kitty Hendrix
- Length: 1 hr and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Identifying covert emotional manipulation is tricky. You sense something is wrong, but you can't quite put your finger on the problem. This powerful book will reveal to you if manipulation is at play in your relationships. It will open your eyes. You will learn 30 tactics manipulators use to get what they want. You will also learn to spot the warning signs within yourself that expose covert manipulation is taking place, even if you can't identify the specific tactics being used.
-
-
This book can change your life!
- By Cat O. on 04-04-18
By: Adelyn Birch
-
Mind Mapping
- Improve Memory, Concentration, Communication, Organization, Creativity, and Time Management
- By: Kam Knight
- Narrated by: Jim D Johnston
- Length: 5 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is a comprehensive guide to learning about a wonderful technique called mind maps. Mind maps are an amazing organizational and creativity tool that can improve memory, concentration, communication, organization, creativity, and time management.
-
-
make sure to practice
- By Meryem on 04-24-17
By: Kam Knight
-
There's No Such Thing as Bad Weather
- A Scandinavian Mom's Secrets for Raising Healthy, Resilient, and Confident Kids (from Friluftsliv to Hygge)
- By: Linda Åkeson McGurk
- Narrated by: Ann Richardson
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bringing Up Bébé meets Last Child in the Woods in this lively, insightful memoir about a mother who sets out to discover if the nature-centric parenting philosophy of her native Scandinavia holds the key to healthier, happier lives for her American children.
-
-
Great concept, interesting writing.
- By Kate on 11-03-17
-
How to Say It: Words That Make a Difference
- By: Allison Friederichs Atkison, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Allison Friederichs Atkison
- Length: 4 hrs and 44 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Words. We use them all the time, every day, mostly without giving them much thought at all. We take for granted that they’re here at our disposal whenever we need them. But if you’ve ever wished you could communicate more effectively, words are the place to start. It’s incumbent upon you to choose the best words to accomplish your goals, because how you choose to communicate influences—well, everything! The power of communication shapes our professional goals, our relationships, and our lives—so the words we choose to use carry a great deal of power.
-
-
Meh. Glad I didn't pay for it.
- By Paula on 07-23-22
By: Allison Friederichs Atkison, and others
-
How to Release Anxiety
- By: Gabrielle Bernstein
- Narrated by: Gabrielle Bernstein
- Length: 1 hr and 29 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s not just you. Stress levels are at an all-time high—so much so that a recently convened panel of medical experts in the US has recommended that all adults under the age of 65 be screened for anxiety. In How to Release Anxiety, Gabby Bernstein offers simple, actionable steps for feeling better, living with more ease, and showing up for those around us. Gabby’s unusual advice: Rather than manage your anxiety, what if you befriended it? Gabby posits that what we befriend, we can ultimately be at ease with. So she invites us to get curious.
-
-
Not my thing, but one good point
- By Scott on 10-22-22
-
Manifest Now
- By: Idil Ahmed
- Narrated by: Idil Ahmed
- Length: 4 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Manifest Now provides a step-by-step guide with tools, techniques, and proven strategies to raise your frequency and create the reality you want. This audiobook is designed to guide you through the mental, physical, and spiritual aspects of manifesting and creating all that your heart desires. You'll learn how to start removing mental and emotional blocks so you can rediscover that manifesting is your natural birthright. You'll feel more confident, reconnected, and powerful as you listen.
-
-
This is my first review of 2 years subscribed!
- By Rodrigo on 02-22-19
By: Idil Ahmed
-
30 Covert Emotional Manipulation Tactics: How Manipulators Take Control in Personal Relationships
- By: Adelyn Birch
- Narrated by: Kitty Hendrix
- Length: 1 hr and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Identifying covert emotional manipulation is tricky. You sense something is wrong, but you can't quite put your finger on the problem. This powerful book will reveal to you if manipulation is at play in your relationships. It will open your eyes. You will learn 30 tactics manipulators use to get what they want. You will also learn to spot the warning signs within yourself that expose covert manipulation is taking place, even if you can't identify the specific tactics being used.
-
-
This book can change your life!
- By Cat O. on 04-04-18
By: Adelyn Birch
-
Mind Mapping
- Improve Memory, Concentration, Communication, Organization, Creativity, and Time Management
- By: Kam Knight
- Narrated by: Jim D Johnston
- Length: 5 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is a comprehensive guide to learning about a wonderful technique called mind maps. Mind maps are an amazing organizational and creativity tool that can improve memory, concentration, communication, organization, creativity, and time management.
-
-
make sure to practice
- By Meryem on 04-24-17
By: Kam Knight
-
There's No Such Thing as Bad Weather
- A Scandinavian Mom's Secrets for Raising Healthy, Resilient, and Confident Kids (from Friluftsliv to Hygge)
- By: Linda Åkeson McGurk
- Narrated by: Ann Richardson
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bringing Up Bébé meets Last Child in the Woods in this lively, insightful memoir about a mother who sets out to discover if the nature-centric parenting philosophy of her native Scandinavia holds the key to healthier, happier lives for her American children.
-
-
Great concept, interesting writing.
- By Kate on 11-03-17
-
How to Write Best-Selling Fiction
- By: James Scott Bell, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: James Scott Bell
- Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Most people think the way to write a best seller is to have a lot of talent and even more luck. As you will learn, there is a recipe for success, and luck may be the least important ingredient in creating a best seller. No one has cracked the code better than James Scott Bell. A best-selling author himself, and the author of the number-one best seller for writers, Plot & Structure, Mr. Bell has been teaching the principles of best-selling fiction for over 20 years, principles that apply to any genre or style.
-
-
I'm a writer and this course is to blame.
- By accentrique on 07-22-19
By: James Scott Bell, and others
-
English Grammar Boot Camp
- By: Anne Curzan, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Anne Curzan
- Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Grammar! For many of us, the word triggers memories of finger-wagging schoolteachers, and of wrestling with the ambiguous and complicated rules of using formal language. But what is grammar? In fact, it's the integral basis of how we speak and write. As such, a refined awareness of grammar opens a world of possibilities for both your pleasure in the English language and your skill in using it, in both speech and the written word.
-
-
Spectacular
- By Quaker on 09-24-16
By: Anne Curzan, and others
-
Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue
- The Untold History of English
- By: John McWhorter
- Narrated by: John McWhorter
- Length: 5 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A survey of the quirks and quandaries of the English language, focusing on our strange and wonderful grammar. Why do we say "I am reading a catalog" instead of "I read a catalog"? Why do we say "do" at all? Is the way we speak a reflection of our cultural values? Delving into these provocative topics and more, Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue distills hundreds of years of fascinating lore into one lively history.
-
-
Great for casual linguists
- By Bertie on 01-11-10
By: John McWhorter
-
Easy Spanish Step-by-Step
- By: Barbara Bregstein
- Narrated by: Rachel Story
- Length: 37 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Easy Spanish Step-by-Step is designed in such a way that each section builds upon the last to help your brain progressively create lasting and meaningful connections to each new word and grammar concept. Simply by listening and speaking out loud with us, you will naturally progress, step-by-step, toward Spanish communication and fluency.
-
-
Best so far . . .
- By Medusa in Akron on 07-20-21
-
Survival Theory
- A Preparedness Guide
- By: Jonathan Hollerman
- Narrated by: Jim Pelletier
- Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This preparedness guide will help you develop a plan to escape the deadly rioting and looting, showing you where you can take your family to keep them safe, even if you can't afford a fully-stocked survival retreat. Jonathan Hollerman's in-depth expertise and recommendations will cover many topics including bug-out bags, SHTF Weapons, tactical gear, survival tools, knives, long-term food storage, livestock, bug-out locations, survival retreat recommendations, and much more.
-
-
Literally a half decent book.
- By LA on 09-29-16
-
How to Boost Your Credit Score 100+ Points in 30 Days Without Credit Repair!
- By: Brian Diez
- Narrated by: Mike Norgaard
- Length: 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Did you know that you could have credit scores in the low 600s even if you never missed a bill payment in your life? That's because your payment history is only 35% of your credit score. How to Boost Your Credit Score 100+ Points in 30 Days Without Credit Repair will show credit industry secrets for maximizing the other 65%. The best part is you will see real results in just 30 days.
-
-
Don't waste a credit on this!
- By typhoidtrish on 10-01-18
By: Brian Diez
What listeners say about Terms and Conditions
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- T. Hadnot
- 07-16-18
Fascinating!
I loved this book so much. Christine Kavanagh does a wonderful job of narrating this excellent book. Ysenda Maxtone Graham has undertaken to tell the story of boarding school girls, and she succeeds beautifully. This book is well written, easy to read/listen to. It’s not dry at all. I found that I was really invested in the stories of these women who have suffered, triumphed, lost, and gained. There is such a huge difference between the boarding schools we read about and the ones that actually existed.
I highly recommend this to anyone who’s ever been fascinated by the idea of girl’s schools, or anyone who’s looking for an enjoyable nonfiction read. You won’t be disappointed.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Dave Grieder
- 01-20-22
Brilliant and captivating
Grew up on Mallory towers books and loved reading this! What a captivating set of insights into boarding school life, and narrated so well!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!