An Introduction to Girls Gone By Publishers
Towards the end of March, I launched an Instagram account for Girls Gone By Publishers (@girlsgonebypublishers), a women-run independent publishing company that republishes rare, out-of-print children’s fiction from the twentieth century. I remember when Girls Gone By first launched twenty years ago, and how much it meant to me, as a young reader and collector of classic British school stories such as the ‘Chalet School’ series, that these books and many others would be available at affordable prices. It feels as though I have come full circle, in that I can now volunteer my time and photographs to help GGBP reach a wider audience through Instagram.
I know that the majority of my readers are largely unfamiliar with Girls Gone By Publishers, so I thought in this post I would explain a little more about them and the books they publish, as well as why GGBP editions are now so collectable and which titles I recommend trying first. Please note, I’m not writing this post in affiliation with Girls Gone By Publishers, but as a fan of their books and to answer questions I’ve been asked by my own followers in one handy place.
A Brief History of Girls Gone By Publishers
Girls Gone By Publishers (GGBP) was founded by Clarissa Cridland and Ann Mackie-Hunter in 2001. Clarissa is a priest in the Church of England, but her previous extensive career in publishing has been very useful in co-running GGBP. Ann was born in Scotland and lived in Australia for many years before returning to the UK. She is a retired English Literature teacher and a founder of the Friends of the Chalet School (FOCS) society (which is also co-run with Clarissa). Besides reading, gardening is one of Ann's great loves. I first met Clarissa and Ann when I was fourteen and attended a Friends of the Chalet School gathering, held at St Hugh’s College, Oxford one summer. I’d been a young member of FOCS (in those days, they had a special newsletter that went out with the main one, titled ‘Le Petit Chalet’ for their young readers) since I was about twelve and was an avid fan of the Chalet School stories by Elinor Brent-Dyer. I still remember my excitement in travelling to England (we lived abroad) and getting to meet so many bookish friends!
For the most part, Girls Gone By Publishers republish books by popular 20th Century children's book writers. Ann and Clarissa, as co-runners of FOCS, have an especial interest in the books of Elinor Brent-Dyer, and her stories are always a core part of what they publish, but many other authors are also reprinted by GGBP, including: Antonia Forest, Malcolm Saville, Monica Edwards, Lorna Hill, Mabel Esther Allan and Elizabeth Goudge (for a full list of authors currently being republished, click here). Chalet School ‘fill-in’ titles and short stories, written by present-day fans, are also published, and these books are rigorously edited so that they match the style of Elinor Brent-Dyer’s writing and fit seamlessly into the original series. I’m proud to say that a short story I wrote at thirteen is included in the Chalet School Christmas Story Book, published by Girls Gone By in 2007.
GGBP also publish some non-fiction books, including biographies and studies of certain authors and genres. Books are generally priced at £13 (including p&p in the UK), with some larger format books priced at £16.
Why Girls Gone By Editions Are Special
The books that GGBP choose to republish are widely sought after by collectors, and original copies are expensive and difficult to find on the secondhand market. Ann and Clarissa, therefore, will often publish the rarest titles by an author first, which means that series are sometimes reprinted out of order, but this is so that the hardest to find titles are more easily available for collectors. Girls Gone By Publishers republish books with the complete, unabridged original text and illustrations. Many former reprints of these books, especially those done by Armada and Harper Collins as paperbacks (e.g. of the Elinor Brent-Dyer and Malcolm Saville books) and Children’s Press hardbacks (e.g. of Elsie Oxenham and Josephine Elder books), were abridged, making the GGBP editions even more desirable.
Over the years, I’ve bought many Girls Gone By publications, even when I already own an original copy of the book, because I like to have a ‘reading copy’ of my favourites (the first editions I have get more fragile as each year goes by!), but primarily because of all the fascinating extras that are included within the Girls Gone By reprints, such as: publishing histories of all their books, interesting introductions, author biographies and bibliographies and additional articles and short stories.
I have noticed that GGBP books are becoming increasingly collectable in their own right, and ones now out-of-print are going for large sums on the secondhand market. It’s common for the Girls Gone By Chalet School reprints to be sold for £25+, and many of their out-of-print titles are listed for £40+, with truly ludicrous prices asked for by many booksellers on Abe Books - especially those within the USA (£88 pounds for Highland Twins at the Chalet School by Elinor Brent-Dyer; £506.65 for Wings Over Witchend by Malcolm Saville). The good news is that GGBP do try to bring out former titles of theirs that have gone out-of-print; they are, for instance, working their way through the Chalet School series again (with Eustacia and Problem announced as new titles printing this summer). However, their books definitely sell out quickly, which brings me to my next point, below….
How to Order Girls Gone By Books and Which to Get First
Girls Gone By Publishers is very much a passion project, and Ann and Clarissa are only able to do quite limited print-runs, so they rely on pre-orders to determine how many copies of each book to print. Therefore, if you’re interested in one of their upcoming publications, it’s important to pre-order the book if possible. GGBP titles are becoming increasingly popular, with many selling out within a year of publication. To order or pre-order any books, head to the Girls Gone By Publishers website, where you can scroll the list of books available and order (Ann & Clarissa post out books each week and ship worldwide). You may also like to check bookshops like Blackwells*, which stock some of the GGBP titles, and I know many of my overseas readers like to shop from Blackwells.
The best way to keep up-to-date with the latest GGBP news, is to subscribe to their newsletter (click here and scroll down the page to fill in your email and hit the ‘sign up’ button), which Clarissa sends out every Friday with the latest ‘news from the Vicarage’ and up-to-date information on the GGBP books. In each newsletter, Clarissa mentions any books that are low in stock or about to go out of print, as well as announcing new and upcoming titles. Of course, I also recommend following Girls Gone By on Instagram, where I share mini reviews of the books and the latest news.
If you are new to the world of Girls Gone By Publishers and are wondering which book to order first, then I do have some suggestions. It goes without saying that I love the Chalet School books, and although the first book (The School at the Chalet) is no longer in print, I do recommend starting with the earliest available in the series. Jo Returns to the Chalet School is the twelfth in the series and is currently in print, and Eustacia Goes to the Chalet School is the sixth book and is available to pre-order for the summer. Apart from the Chalet School books, I really enjoyed Lorna at Wynyards by Elinor Brent-Dyer, which is generally considered one of her best non-Chalet titles and is a charming story about a girl sent to live with her cousin and attend a day school in the Cotswolds.
I also recommend Henrietta’s House by Elizabeth Goudge, which is a follow up from her adult novel, The City of Bells, but can be read separately, as it’s a children’s book and follows a special summer birthday picnic in the beautiful Somerset hills, which culminates in many delightful surprises for Henrietta and her friends. Antonia Forest is widely considered one of the strongest children’s writers (if you’ve read the excellent Bookworm by Lucy Mangan, you’ll remember that Lucy raves about Forest’s books about the Marlow family). Girls Gone By have republished The Ready-Made Family, which is the seventh title in the Marlow series, but is very much a story in its own right and may be read out of order. Finally, another favourite of mine is Ann’s Alpine Adventure by Mabel Esther Allan, which follows the adventures and friendships of a young girl travelling abroad to Switzerland for the first time. It’s a delightful summer read, with a wonderful sense of place.
I hope you have found this article on Girls Gone By Publishers helpful, and I hope you have many delightful discoveries of new authors ahead of you!
*I use affiliate links for Blackwells. This means if you buy a book through my Blackwells link, I may make a small commission. You won’t be charged any more for using my link, but you’ll help me to keep creating free content for you to enjoy.
