Oxenham Non-Connectors - The Jinty Series

The Jinty Series

In this series Oxenham picks up threads from a story she had published sixteen years earlier. Tuckshop Girl tells how Jinty arrives at a school in the western suburbs of London from the Scottish Highlands. Her catastrophic introduction is redeemed by her good intentions, and Prue, the 'tuckshop girl' of the title, helps her to integrate into the school. Later titles bring Jinty herself more to the fore, and Prue is kept in the background, though the final title gives a satisfactory end to her story. It is probable that Oxenham was being pressed by publishers for more 'schoolgirl' type stories, and took a schoolgirl character from an earlier book and tried to develop her story and character. Reformation of Jinty and Jinty's Patrol were published at about the same time that Oxenham was developing characters from her Abbey Series into adulthood, whereas her publishers were looking to sell to a younger audience. Divided Patrol did not find a publisher in Oxenham's lifetime, but was published by her niece in 1992.