‘In this episode, I’m interviewing the writer Ysenda Maxtone Graham on her recently published book, Terms & Conditions: Life in Girls’ Boarding Schools, 1939-1979. I read this book after being invited to Ysenda’s book launch at Daunt Books, and once I started it, I couldn’t stop reading! An Old Boarding School Girl herself, Ysenda has written a fascinating account of what British boarding schools were really like from the 30s-70s. In researching the book, Ysenda interviewed a great deal of women, some of them famous (I was especially interested in Judith Kerr’s anecdotes), some of them not, but all of them offering an engrossing glimpse into a bygone age.
Many of the stories of the girls’ lives at the eccentric establishments Ysenda describes will appall the modern reader, but Terms & Conditions is written with so much quiet humour, that it’s almost impossible not to chuckle your way through the book. I had a marvellous time interviewing Ysenda about her writing process and inspiration behind her latest publication, and I’m sure you’ll love listening to her too!’