The Little School-Mothers

A compact boarding school near the New Forest follows its pupils as the headmistress entrusts the third-form girls with caring for a twelve-year-old newcomer who has never attended school. Preparations for a summer picnic and the presence of the charming Miss Devigny frame conversations that reveal competing impulses: tenderness, envy, teasing, and a desire to set boundaries. The narrative focuses on classroom routines, dormitory arrangements, and the social negotiations among girls such as Rose, the Amberley sisters, Harriet, and Jane as they confront responsibility, initiation, and the shifting friendships of school life.