And Both Were Young by Madeleine L'Engle

Set in the late 1940s, Madeleine L’Engle’s first book for young people is a boarding school story about an American teen, still recovering from the loss of her mother, and how a friendship with a serious French boy with demons of his own brings both solace. Philippa Hunter, known as Flip, had hoped to travel with her artist father – he is working on illustrations for a book about lost children throughout Europe and Asia, including those from WWII. Instead, his possessive girlfriend, Mrs. Jackman, has arranged for her to attend a boarding school in Switzerland.

On the way, they visit the Chateau of Chillon, made famous by Lord Byron, where Flip encounters a French teen, Paul Laurens and his dog, Ariel, and confides her misery to him.

Everyone tells her school won’t be so bad but it is even worse than she anticipated: everything is regimented, she has no privacy, she’s terrible at sports, the other girls are more sophisticated and she doesn’t fit in. Flip’s only comfort is art classes with Madame Perceval.

Almost the most difficult thing, Flip found, was never being alone. From the moment she woke up in the morning until she fell asleep at night, she was surrounded by girls. She was constantly with them but she never felt she was of them . . . . And she would stand on the hockey field when they chose teams, looking down at her toe scrounging into the grass and pretend that she didn’t care when the team which had the bad luck to get her let out a groan, or the gym teacher, Fraulein Hauser, snapped, “Philippa Hunter! How can you be so clumsy!”

It was so easy for me identify with her ineptitude at sports and recall annoyance of the other girls at one's lack of skills! One day Flip escapes from the form common room and climbs the hill behind the school, breaking bounds, and feels happy for the first time in weeks. When a hideous bulldog approaches her enthusiastically, she recognizes Paul’s dog, Ariel, and follows him to a deserted chateau. There is no sign of Paul but knowing she has a friend nearby cheers her up. But school continues to be stressful: when the other girls decide the new girls like Flip need to be initiated, she ends up blindfolded, tied to a tree, and forgotten. She is rescued by Madame Perceval, who brings her back to tea in her rooms, turning the tables on her tormentors who can’t find her.

Eventually, Madame Perceval, who turns out to be his aunt, gets Flip permission to meet Paul weekly, well chaperoned by his father, and their friendship gives her more confidence and helps Paul as well. Paul insists on teaching Flip how to ski when the school gives up on her, hoping he can get her good enough to surprise everyone and win the school’s ski meet. This is classic school story plot but naturally doesn’t work out as planned. However, it is part of Flip’s maturation, which helps her relax, make friends, and finally fit in at school. Like Flip, who lost her mother in a car accident, Paul has survived trauma - his during the war.

Near the end of the book, Flip is talking to Madame Perceval about WWII, and asks how those like her who were not immediately affected can help people who suffered:

“Just never forget,” Madame Perceval said.  “Never take it for granted.”

“I don't see how anyone could forget."

"It's far too easy,” Madame Perceval told her.  “But it's important for us to remember, so that we can try to keep it from happening again.”

Words to contemplate as our president initiates an unauthorized war! 

And Both Were Young was inspired by L’Engle’s own difficult experience at boarding school in Switzerland. She reissued it with new material in 1983, explaining that her editor had removed some material that referenced death or that the editors found sexually suggestive about Mr. Hunter’s relationship with Mrs. Jackman – this was before Young Adult was recognized as a genre. It was one of the first boarding school stories I ever read and I loved reading about Flip’s secret friendship with Paul, the mean girls at boarding school, and how Flip learns – bit by bit – to enjoy the school and is accepted. I had already read A Wrinkle in Time from my school library but found this one at the Newton Public Library and was reading it the day my sister Andrea was born. I checked it out so many times I practically know it by heart. When I met Madeleine L’Engle, I told her it was my favorite of all her books and one I frequently recommend, and she said she rarely heard that, but seemed pleased.

Title: And Both Were Young (now available through Project Gutenberg)
Author: Madeleine L’Engle
Setting: Post WWII Switzerland
Publication: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co.
Genre: YA, hardcover, 1949
Source: Personal copy