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Audiobook edition · 9 h 20 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What does honesty cost when your friends pull one way and your pride pulls another?
Hester Thornton arrives at Lavender House with spirit and imagination, but living among other girls brings fresh challenges. In A World of Girls, L. T. Meade draws you into lessons, dormitories and playground quarrels, where close friendships and sharp rivalries shape the school day.
The headmistress expects conduct as well as lessons, while teachers watch over a world of shifting loyalties. Hester must find her place without losing her own nature. Beneath the games and secrets lies a harder question: how do you choose what is right when nobody is making you?
What you’ll discover
- A spirited new girl Follow Hester as her imagination and strong nature meet the demands of school life.
- Friendships with real stakes Enter a circle of companions whose shared secrets and loyalties bring both warmth and strain.
- Pride against honesty Consider the choices that test a girl's courage when friendship and conscience pull apart.
- Behind Victorian expectations See how girls are expected to behave, and how their own wishes challenge those rules.
- An affectionate guiding voice Stay close to Hester's feelings as Meade leads you through the quarrels and companionship.
Who will love it
You will love this if you enjoy school stories full of friendships and feuds, midnight feasts and mysteries, and tender scenes with children, and if you wonder what honesty and forgiveness really cost.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A Girl Leaves Home Heartbroken
- A Stubborn Dislike at First Sight
- A School Built on Trust
- Mischief Begins and Suspicion Grows
- Honesty and Loyalty Pull Apart
- Nan Arrives and a Temptation Takes Root
- Love Is Not Won by Stealing
Who’s who
- Hester ThorntonA proud, grieving twelve-year-old who arrives at Lavender House sure she will hate it, and who loves her little sister above everything.
- Annie ForestThe school's wild, warm hearted favorite, always in scrapes, who adores the headmistress and has a magic touch with children and animals.
- NanHester's three-year-old sister, a dimpled and imperious baby who speaks in baby talk and gives her love where she chooses.
- Cecil TempleA plain, gentle and deeply faithful girl whose loyalty to Annie puts her at odds with the headmistress she loves.
- Mrs. WillisThe silver haired headmistress who runs her school on trust and wants every girl to be earnest, brave and true.
- Dora RussellA tall, graceful senior girl who is selfish and snobbish, and who wants the gold locket given as the essay prize.
- Susan DrummondHester's sleepy roommate, always trying to stay awake, who carries sweets in her pockets and is hard to read.
- Mr. EverardThe old vicar, a friend of Mrs. Willis, who is called in when gentler methods fail and who judges by truth.
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Eine Welt von Mädchen
by L. T. Meade · 1886
A grieving girl and a wild school favorite clash at Lavender House, and a small sister's love draws them together.
Medium level5–10 hours to readDeutsch
Excellent
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In short
What do you do with a girl who seems loved by everyone, when you have already decided to dislike her? Hester Thornton is twelve, dressed in black for her mother, and sure that her new school is a prison.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A Girl Leaves Home Heartbroken
The story opens in a country house, where a toddler named Nan slips away from her nurse to find her big sister Hester. Hester, about twelve and in deep mourning, takes her into a small study and feeds her biscuits and then sugar lumps. She knows this is their last hour together, and she wants Nan to never forget her.
Hester's mother died in a carriage accident only three months before. Her father, Sir John Thornton, is just and upright but knows nothing about children. When Hester climbs trees, tears her dresses and rides his horses bareback, he decides the cure is a boarding school. He reads his paper all the way to the station and tells her he dislikes displays of emotion in public.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 9 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1886
- Language
- Deutsch
- Reading time
- 6 h 5 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Meade, L. T. A World of Girls. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-world-of-girls.
Meade, L. T. (2026). A world of girls. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-world-of-girls (Original work published 1886)
Meade, L. T. A World of Girls. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-world-of-girls.
@book{meade2026world,
author = {Meade, L. T.},
title = {A World of Girls},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-world-of-girls},
note = {First published 1886}
}
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What is A World of Girls about?
It follows twelve-year-old Hester Thornton through rivalry and reconciliation at Lavender House, a boarding school. She clashes with Annie Forest, the favorite, while mysterious pranks cause suspicion, and her little sister Nan becomes the center of a rivalry.
Who is Annie Forest in A World of Girls?
Annie is the lively, impulsive school favorite, loved by little children and older girls. She is an orphan in Mrs. Willis's care, hot tempered but loving, and she is the girl Hester decides to dislike.
Is A World of Girls a true story and when was it written?
It is a work of fiction by L. T. Meade, published in the Victorian period. It reflects the boarding school customs of its day, with gongs, French only lessons and compartments for privileges.
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