{"id":3292,"date":"2017-06-21T10:00:02","date_gmt":"2017-06-21T04:30:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fableandi.com\/?p=3292"},"modified":"2020-04-04T19:46:09","modified_gmt":"2020-04-04T14:16:09","slug":"mr-tibbits-catholic-school-ysenda-maxtone-graham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thebooksatchel.com\/mr-tibbits-catholic-school-ysenda-maxtone-graham\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Review : Mr. Tibbit’s Catholic School by Ysenda Maxtone Graham"},"content":{"rendered":"
For someone who feasted on Enid Blyton\u2019s Malory Towers<\/em> and St. Clares<\/em> books, Mr. Tibbit\u2019s Catholic school<\/em> was an enticing title. I had started reading Terms and Conditions<\/em> by Ysenda Maxtone Graham first but since the beginning pages bore little similarity to Blyton\u2019s fictional boarding schools that I grew up reading, I switched it for Mr. Tibbit\u2019s Catholic school<\/em>, the story of a private school in Kensington.<\/p>\n Upadte : I absolutely adored Terms and Conditions<\/em> when I picked it up later.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I was happy I made the decision because this book was a fast read for me. The book gives a true picture of the characteristics of English boys\u2019 schools \u2013 pants-down beatings with a slipper (or hard shoe as some students recall it), meals of watery mashed potatoes that could not be skipped, all the children in the dining room forced to wait until everyone finishes everything on their plates and cricket games played in cold weather wearing a shirt and itchy wool shorts (underpants not allowed).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The school ((now St. Philips) in South Kensington has an interesting history. Mr Richard \u2018Dick\u2019 Tibbits was a member of the Church of England who converted to Catholicism. One day, a priest at the Brompton Oratory remarked that there were no good private schools for Catholic boys in that region of London. Thus in 1934, Tibbits offered to take up the task. He bought a house, founded the school, taught the boys and even fetched them from their home and dropped them back after school.<\/p>\n <\/p>\nThe School<\/h3>\n