The Enid Blyton Society

I've mentioned this author a few times in various threads - I was reading the 'which book have you read the most' thread, and this is definitely the non-Blyton book I've read the most over the years. I know a few others have read it too and number it among their favourites - The Mystery of the Island'

It was written in 1945 and published by Blackie and Son, but the version I had was a laminated cover from the 1960's in the 'Abbey Awards' series. The first edition, which I also now have, had several illustrations by Lindsay W Cable.

I'm not sure if Isobel Knight wrote any other books that are similar, or even if she wrote any more at all, but this is an exciting and mysterious read - a bit scary, with all the Blyton elements - a mystery island, a strange old man who searches the beach, a ruined castle with screams in the night, ancient legends and a curse. A great read!

There are a few editions on ebay...

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/The-Mystery- ... 56647dd44a

The Mystery of the Island was one of my favourite books and I recently read it again after a long gap. I posted about it in the 'What other author are you reading at the moment?' thread. My copy is the Peel Press edition from the 1960s. I think that this is the only novel that Isobel Knight wrote but she did write a number of school readers with titles like The Mystery of Middle Tree Island and The Farmyard Mystery. They are only about 50 or 60 pages long and I haven't read them. It is a pity that she didn't write more full-length stories but the one that she did write was an absolute stunner.

Never heard of this Author or Book. Sounds a good read. I will definitely give it a whirl.

Very Blytonian cover too. I may give it a whirl myself.

Ooh, that does sound exciting! I may have to look out for it too.

It's also interesting to read as a contrast to what Enid was writing at the time - the same themes and ideas but told in a more adult way, and with more modern language, such as 'mum' instead of 'mother'. It's also told in the first person' which makes it seem more immediate. When I first read this aged about 9 I imagined it was a fairly 'modern' story, especially since my copy was from the 1960's, and I presumed that was when it was written. I was quite surprised to find out later that it was written as early as 1945.

I see they have a few copies of this for sale on Amazon - not a bad price for a book that's now pretty hard to find.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Mystery-Isl ... B00FEMTSCK

http://www.amazon.com/The-Mystery-Islan ... B00FEMTSCK

Merged with an older topic.

I'm a great advocate of this book - a book I've read maybe even more times than most Enid Blyton books!

I know a few people were interested in reading it from discussions about it in the past, and came across this first edition on ebay, and a few others on Amazon UK and USA


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/The-Mystery-o ... 1410791449

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Mystery-Isl ... B00FEMTSCK

http://www.amazon.com/The-Mystery-Islan ... B00FEMTSCK

It's well worth a read - about a family going to live on a small Scottish island, an ancient curse, hidden treasure, haunted castle, secret passages, a mystery man, and many other Blytonian features.

Robert, will you STOP tempting me to spend money!!! I've just bought the eBay one.

You won't regret it!

Looks fantastic.
I've just bought an ebay copy too!

So have I!

What have you started, Rob??

Its about time this book got more recognition, lol! I didn't think I'd start a revolution though!

Of course, I do also realise that if people read this book and don't rate it I will be for the highjump!!

Still some left - buy, buy buy!

If I didn't already have two copies of my own, I'd be buying one!


http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from= ... t&_sacat=0