AustLit

'The second of only two Australian girls' school stories to be set in Catholic schools, Dunham Days concerns the final term of best friends. Helen Scott and Marian Dance attend Dunham, a convent school on the Parramatta River in Sydney. The two girls are dual Heads and about to sit for the University examinations. Dunham Days contains similar moral themes to the ones explored in the other [C]atholic girls' school story, Nellie Doran. One of the girls, Inez, loses her temper and accidentally hits another girl. Inez has a passionate temper which she constantly has to control. According to school rules Inez will be expelled unless the whole school petitions against it. One of the girls, Eleanor, refuses to comply until her friend threatens that she will tell the Nuns about the illicit books she reads. Inez is saved from expulsion and vows she will never forget the incident, praying to God to help her control her temper. When one of the girls falls violently ill, Eleanor's misdeeds comes to light and she is punished' (Rachel Crawford, Bonza Schooldays).