


Books in series

#1
Welcome to the School by the Sea
2008
The first book of Jenny Colgan's delightful new four-part series, set at a charming English boarding school on the sea.
Maggie went to the window and opened it wide, inhaling the lovely salt air off the sea. Why had she never lived by the sea before? Why had she always looked out on housing estates and not the little white hulls of trawlers bobbing off in the distance?
It's gloriously sunny in Cornwall as the school year starts at the little boarding school by the sea. Maggie, the newest teacher at Downey House, is determined to make her mark. She's delighted by her new teaching job, but will it come at the expense of her relationship with her safe, dependable boyfriend Stan?
Simone is excited and nervous: she's won a scholarship to the prestigious boarding school and wants to make her parents proud. Forced to share a room with the glossy, posh girls of Downey House, she needs to find a friend, fast.
Fliss is furious. She's never wanted to go to boarding school and hates being sent away from her home. As Simone tries desperately to fit in, Fliss tries desperately to get out.
Over the course of one year, friendships will bloom and lives will be changed forever. Life at the Little School by the Sea is never dull...

#2
Rules at the School by the Sea
2010
It's summer, but school is in session in the delightful second book of New York Times bestselling author Jenny Colgan's utterly charming School by the Sea series, set at a girls' boarding school in Cornwall.
For the second year at Downey House, it's getting harder and harder to stick to the rules . . .
Maggie Adair's first year as a teacher at Downey House was a surprising success. After making the leap from an inner-city school in Glasgow, she's learned to appreciate the mellower pace of the girls' boarding school by the sea.
Now engaged to her longtime boyfriend, sweet and steady Stan, Maggie's just got to stop thinking about David McDonald, her colleague at the boys' school down the road. Well, hasn't she? Can Maggie take a leaf out of the Well Behaved Teacher's exercise book and stick to her plan for a small but elegant wedding and settled life of matrimony?
Even as Maggie tries to stay within the lines, rules are being broken all around her. Maggie's boss, headmistress Veronica Deveral, has more to lose than anyone. When Daniel Stapleton joins the faculty, Veronica finds herself forced to confront a scandalous secret she thought she'd carefully buried forever. How long will she be able to keep her past under wraps?
What does a new year of classes, rules, and camaraderie hold for the students and faculty at Downey House?

#3
Lessons
2019
Jenny Colgan's return to the Little School by the Sea—perfect for anyone who ever dreamed of going to boarding school!
As the summer holidays start, scandal hits Downey House. The attraction between Maggie Adair, the fiery, committed English teacher at Downey House, and David McDonald, a teacher at the local boys' school, has escalated—and now both are facing an uncertain future.
The girls of Downey House—mercurial Fliss, glamorous Alice and shy, dependable Simone—are facing long summers at home. But the new term is not far away—and it will bring new pupils and lots of fresh new challenges...
'Funny, page-turning and addictive... just like Malory Towers for grown-ups' - Sophie Kinsella
'A brilliant boarding school book, stuffed full of unforgettable characters, thrilling adventures and angst...' - Lisa Jewell

#4
Studies at the School by the Sea
2024
The long-awaited and never-before published finale in New York Times bestselling author Jenny Colgan’s delightful School by the Sea series.
After all those lessons, it’s time to graduate....
Beloved literature teacher Maggie Adair loves her life at the prestigious Downey House boarding school on the gloriously sunny, windy English coast. It was there that she found her footing as a teacher and fell in love with her colleague David—the two great anchors of her life. But these days Maggie’s feeling restless, lured by the promise of a different life back in her Scottish hometown. How can you follow your heart when it seems to be taking you in two directions at once?
Meanwhile, Maggie’s favorite students are abuzz at the thought of graduation and set to fly the nest to their next adventure. What will life hold for mercurial Fliss, glamorous Alice, and shy, hard-working Simone when they finally finish their studies at the school by the sea? Will Maggie stay to welcome the next class of girls, or will she too graduate to new adventures?
Authors

Jenny Colgan
Author · 46 books
Jenny Colgan is the author of numerous bestselling novels, including 'The Little Shop of Happy Ever After' and 'Summer at the Little Beach Street Bakery', which are also published by Sphere.' Meet Me at the Cupcake Café' won the 2012 Melissa Nathan Award for Comedy Romance and was a Sunday Times Top Ten bestseller, as was 'Welcome to Rosie Hopkins' Sweetshop of Dreams', which won the RNA Romantic Novel of the Year Award 2013. For more about Jenny, visit her website and her Facebook page, or follow her on Twitter. Jenny Colgan has also been published under the name Jenny T. Colgan.