The Secret Gondal Society

By Judy Lunsford

California girl, Tilly, is a scholarship student and junior transfer to an exclusive all girls school in New England.
Thrust into a new environment where everyone else seems to have known one another forever, Tilly finds herself suddenly immersed in the lives of five other girls in her class.
With the inspiration from the all female-writer curriculum assigned by the young English teacher, Miss Anderson, the girls create The Secret Gondal Society. A Secret Society loosely based on the Bronte sister's idea of writing together in a shared fantasy world.
Through the friendship forged within the society, the girls face the realities of life through the fantasies created in their writing.
This compelling story is completely told through letters and short stories written by Tilly to a mysterious "Secret Sister", you, the reader.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Judy Lunsford
• Release date: Jun 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201187378

Judy Lunsford

Born and raised in California, Judy now lives in Arizona with her husband and Giant Schnoodle. Judy writes with dyslexia and a chronic illness & is a breast cancer survivor. She writes mostly fantasy, but delves into suspense, horror, romance, and poetry. She has written books and short stories for all ages. You can find her books and short stories at your favorite online retailers.

Book preview

LETTER #1 (September)

Dear Sis,

I made it. After three grueling days on a smelly bus, I successfully made the cross-country trip to the Ironwood School for Girls.

It was three days of crappy gas station food and sleeping sitting up, so I’m not sure how successful it actually was. But after falling asleep with my head on a stranger’s shoulder, eating day old sandwiches where I found mold on the bread after I already ate half of it, and dropping my toothbrush into the toilet in a public bathroom, I am ready for my own bed. (I did manage to find a new toothbrush at a rest stop Quick Stop. And no, I did not retrieve the old one from the public toilet. And oh my gosh, never eat the egg salad sandwich when it’s from a gas station.)

You would love it here. The buildings are all Gothic and freaky looking. They are huge, with towers like on an old castle, and spiky tops poking through the clouds into the gray skies.

No one noticed me on that first morning. I just blended into the grays of the dreary weather. Someone slammed into me and knocked my duffel bag off my shoulder and barely even acknowledged my presence. I’m sure she and I will become close friends. Smh.

The lines to register were long and I was one of the only ones without a parent with them to check-in. 

I know I was excited when I left home about doing this on my own. But standing there in that long line, all alone. It sucked. Having a parent there wouldn’t have been anywhere near as intimidating as feeling so exposed left me. 

The teacher who checked me in was nice. Miss Anderson, I think. She’s new too. She made me feel a lot better about being here on my own. She even gave me her card, where she wrote her cell phone number and told me I could even call or text outside of her office hours. That was nice of her. I will probably never call her, but it’s nice to know there is someone to call if I need it.

I don’t have my class schedule yet, but if I’m lucky, I will have Miss Anderson for whatever class she teaches.

My room is in the west wing. Which of course, the entrance and check-ins were all in the east wing, so I had to drag my bag all the way across the massive main building. I swear, the place kept getting bigger and bigger as I walked through it. It didn’t look that big from the outside. I mean, it looked big, but not this kind of Whovian on the inside big.

When I finally found my room, it turned out to be nicer than I expected. It’s small, especially since I have to share with another girl. But the view. The view is seriously worth the cost of tuition. 

There are two windows, one on each side of the room (on the same wall, just opposite ends) that look out into a beautiful forest. It’s like looking out into a magical fairy tale land that stretches as far as the eye can see. I can’t wait until I see it under the first snow.

Although I am not looking forward to the first snow as much anymore. The climate here is already much cooler than California. I am wishing I brought more clothes. Or at least warmer clothes. The wind outside was biting through my heavy sweater like it wasn’t even there.

There isn’t much storage space in our tiny dorm rooms, but I didn’t bring a lot, so it didn’t really matter to me. My roommate, however, her wardrobe and drawers were already stuffed to the brim and she had a large trunk jammed over in a corner that was overflowing with clothes. I don’t know how anyone could’ve made such a huge mess in such a short amount of time. But I did notice she had a lot of books. Not school related either. So, I had high hopes from the get-go that maybe she and I would get along.

I was right. When I had finished unpacking, she came back into the room. She had long dark hair that was pulled into two braids and she wore glasses. Her name is Darla, and she’s from some small town in Montana that I can’t remember the name of. I’ll have to ask her again later. But she loves books and already offered to lend me some of hers.

She also gave me a list of rules for borrowing her books. No eating or drinking while reading, no dog-earing the pages, etc. Standard stuff for bookworms.

I am really glad I got Darla as a roommate. After a few minutes of talking to her, I knew we were book dragon soul-mates. She even offered me one of her jackets to wear when we go outside the building again. She is slightly taller than me, but the jacket fits well enough.

Across the hall is a girl that could be a problem. She’s a redhead named Isabella. Total spoiled-rich-girl syndrome. And she already acts like she’s the boss of the dorm. She’s gone to this school for a few years now, so she really knows her way around. She was actually helpful in helping me find the dining hall and where to get my class schedule, so maybe I shouldn’t let my first impression of her jade me too much.

Well, that’s all for now. I’m glad we decided to write to one another. It felt good to put this all down on paper. You were right. This old-fashioned letter writing thing is going to make things feel more comfortable and like home. 

I miss you already. I’ll write more after my first classes tomorrow.

And BTW, I did get Miss Anderson for a teacher. English class. How cool is that?

Later, Sis.

Love,

Tilly

LETTER #2 (September)

DEAR SIS,

The first day of classes was rough. So many books and so much work on the syllabus for each class. I don’t know how I will ever find the time to get all of it done. And the worst part is, all of my classes are on the far side of the building, or in one of the adjoining buildings, with no time to come back to my room between classes. Which means I have to lug all my books around for every session before lunch. And then again after lunch. That should seriously count as my gym class.

The best part is Miss Anderson’s class. She seems as cool as a teacher as she did when I met her yesterday. Her workload is a bit heavy, but a lot of the assignments look like they will be fun. But then I have always loved writing and my English classes. I will have to send you some of my stories after I write them for class.

History class is going to be horrid. It’s taught by a Ms. Barrister. She’s about 100 years old and sharp as a tack. She is mean too. Her syllabus is 20 pages long. 20 pages! For one single semester! The workload for her class is going to take up more time in a week than there is realistically available. What a nightmare!

My math class has one of the few male teachers on campus. He looks pretty timid. Nerdy in a nice way. He has a lot going on in his class too, but seemed genuinely interested in helping us if we needed it. I will probably be making frequent trips to his office.

I have a male teacher for Latin and French. Same guy. I think he said he spoke six different languages, but I am not sure. Isabella kept nudging me all through class, so I can’t be sure of everything he said. I think Isabella thinks the language teacher is cute. She’s just the type to have an affair with a teacher. He’s not old or anything, but I’m not sure how cute he is. Isabella better watch herself, or she could land herself, or someone else, in a lot of trouble.

Darla, on the other hand, is a great roommate. She studies and reads. And when she does talk, she’s really nice. She’s a bit of a slob, but she keeps it on her side of the room so far. I’m not sure how one person can make such a huge mess in two days, but she has managed it. But if she keeps her mess on her half, and doesn’t get food involved (there isn’t any food allowed in the dorms anyway) I think I can handle it. She just has a lot of stuff.

Isabella and some other girls on our floor invited me and Darla to join a study group with them. They didn’t really act like they were going to invite Darla, but they couldn’t exactly invite me and not her when they barged into our room without knocking.

I told you that Isabella acts like she’s the boss of the dorm, right?

Well, her family has a lot of money. And apparently, it is A LOT of money. Her father donates tons of money to the school all the time. Isabella is the third of four girls in her family to attend Ironwood. So, her father has donated enough to the school that he practically owns the place. And Isabella acts like it. I think even the teachers are a little afraid of her. Not Miss Anderson though. Either she doesn’t know, or hopefully doesn’t care, that Isabella’s dad refurbished half the school. She didn’t seem intimidated by Isabella at all. They butted heads in class already, and it was only the first day. 

Isabella doesn’t like the reading list, so she challenged Miss Anderson on it. I don’t think Miss Anderson is inclined to change the reading list, no matter who doesn’t like it. 

I didn’t see anything wrong with the reading list. In fact, I am looking forward to it. I have already read several of the books anyway, so the number of books on the list don’t bother me in the slightest.

We will be starting with some of the great women writers of the past. Jane Austen, Mary Shelley, and all of the Bronte sisters. In fact, we are starting with the Brontë’s. I am actually excited to read some of their other works. I’ve read Jane Eyre, and Wuthering Heights, but the other books will be new to me.

I think Isabella’s idea of a study group is that we do all the work and give her all the answers, because when she started doling out the workload, she didn’t seem to assign herself anything to spend extra time on. Even her roommate, who I think is her best friend, had extra assigned to her by Isabella. Her name is Harper. She seems like she would be nicer if she didn’t hang out with Isabella.

Study group starts tomorrow evening, so I’d better get to my class assignments and be ready for whatever tomorrow.

I’m glad we’re writing. I’m sure this was all tedious from today, but it feels good to get things out on paper, doesn’t it?

I may have to start a journal while I’m here. I haven’t done something like that in a long time. I kinda miss it. Then maybe I will remember stuff better when it comes time to write to you. 

I’ll let you know how the study group goes. By the end of the session, Isabella may try to lead a rebellion against poor Miss Anderson and her reading list. Not that it will do her any good.

I hope things are well with you. Write me soon, okay? I like Darla and all, but it’s sort of lonely here. I really don’t know anyone that well yet. Words from you might soothe the ache in my soul.

Love, 

Tilly

LETTER #3 (October)

Dear Sis,

This last week just flashed by. Sorry I haven’t written sooner. But the class workload here is much more than I was expecting. Don’t get me wrong, I am just nerdy enough to sort of love it. I like being busy and having a focus. 

My classes are great. Very challenging. But they don’t give me much to talk about in a letter. Physical education is the only class I don’t like. Seriously. Even my math and science classes aren’t that bad, and I normally hate both those courses. But the teachers are nice and seem to be very willing to help. Luckily, small class sizes let the teachers be available to have office hours where they can help students individually who are having difficulties.

We have our study group going. Isabella thinks she’s the boss, of course. Harper, Isabella’s roommate, seems okay. But Isabella talks over her whenever Harper has something to say. She seems too shy or beat down to fight for her speaking time, so she just lets Isabella walk all over her. I think they have known each other forever, so Harper just lets Isabella behave that way.

Of course, there’s me and Darla. I’m glad Darla was asked to join too. It would have been too awkward to be in the group without her. Plus, she’s definitely the smartest girl in school, I can tell that already. If you’re going to pick people for your study group, you would definitely want Darla as a first choice.

There are two other girls in the group with us as well. Freda, who is constantly challenging Isabella, which I find to be rather amusing most of the time. And Freda’s roommate, Sarah.