Clare Mallory

Who was Clare Mallory?

Clare Mallory is the penname under which Winifred Constance McQuilkan Hall wrote ten children's books published between 1947 and 1951.

Clare Mallory is primarily remembered as a superior exponent of the girls' School story. Prior to her marriage she was headmistress of a day and boarding school in Dunedin, New Zealand and in her short autobiography published in Hugh Anderson's The Singing Roads she describes her first books as coming from stories she made up to entertain her students while they prepared food parcels for Britain.

The Encyclopaedia of Girls' School Stories describes Clare Mallory as 'one of the best exponents of the classical school story' She doesn't break new ground but rather stays true to the traditional elements of the genre, populating her stories with tall, authoritative Head Girls, forceful Games Captains, respected albeit distant Head Mistresses and a cast of likeable juniors of assorted ages. If there is a recurring theme to her stories it is the importance of belonging. This possibly relates to Mallory's own life. She lost both her parents while a teenager and completed her schooling while living in lodgings. Mallory's heroes relish the ties that bind. Merry is 'second generation Tremaynes', Juliet travels 12,000 miles to attend the school her grandfather helped found, Leith thinks she is looking for a particular friend but discovers instead the value of belonging to a community. For Mallory the School or more specifically in several books, the House, represents a place where one can belong.