What Enid Blyton book are you reading right NOW!

[Rob Houghton]

'The Secret Mountain' has the dubious distinction of being the first EB series book to be taken out of circulation. They made a decision not to reprint it again due presumably to the so-called 'racist' themes of savage natives etc. It's a real shame, as I think it's the best book in the series.

Are you sure Rob? There is a recent Kindle and print version available of The Secret Mountain. One major edit they’ve done is to remove the words black and white to refer to race. Maybe that was the only thing they needed to do to make Mafumu’s adulation of Jack normal. There is no explicit reference to the race of any of the characters. Of course you don’t need it since the context will tell you. This new version to me is infinitely better. The reference to race gets tiring quick, and seems pointless. Of course it might not have seemed so for previous generations.

I agree that the references you quote are the only things that really need to be removed, and they do indeed get a bit repetitive in the original. However, the link you provided has a publication date of 2012 - and also appears to be using a photo from the 1957 Famous Five film! In the UK the other four books in the series have now been reprinted - with 'Mountain' missing. Tony mentioned this a while ago, when the books were reprinted with these covers -



The most recent version of The Secret Mountain I have is from 2009.

[Anita Bensoussane]

Yes, the editions with those covers came out in January 2016 and The Secret Mountain is missing from the series. The Kindle version of The Secret Mountain isn't available anymore in the UK either.

[IceMaiden]

I have just started Five Have A Mystery To Solve. I really like this book however something struck me tonight on reading the part about George cycling over. In the very first book, Julian, Dick, Anne and their parents have to drive for hours to reach Kirrin 'right down through London then further again' (OWTTE). Their parents even say their staying in a hotel for the night as its too late to drive such a long way back. Yet in Mystery To Solve George can suddenly bike over to them within about half an hour and they can decide to go and spend the day at Kirrin, even though in the first book it took a day to get to there! Now I know that time seems longer when your a child but it's not that drastic a difference!! I can only assume that when its mentioned earlier in the series that the three cant go to their own home as its being redecorated what their parents actually mean is they can't go home as the house is being relocated!

[Rob Houghton]

Five Have A Mystery to Solve isn't one of my most favourite 'Five' books by any stretch, but i do like the fact its set in a real place that I have visited - the area around Brownsea Island and Enid's golf course. Even the white cottage is real - unusual for Enid, but having visited the area, it brought the book to life!

I think, sadly, that the fact George can now cycle easily to her cousins is just a sign that Enid's memory was beginning to get a bit confused. She also confuses Mrs Layman, I think, sometimes calling her Wilfred's aunt and sometimes his grandmother.

[timv]

I agree that the unique placing of the originally entirely imaginary 'Kirrin' within cycling distance of a place clearly meant to be Studland/ Brownsea Island is a sign that Enid's memory was failing by this point. I have certainly always taken it as such, as this is the first time Enid says that anywhere near Kirrin is a 'real place' . Possibly Julian and co's parents' house near Kirrin is just a holiday home - but as Enid doesn't make it clear and calls their mother 'Mrs Barnard' not 'Mrs Kirrin' (Julian and co's father being Quentin Kirrin's brother in the first book) I assume it is another muddle.

The description of George cycling over a gap between hills and down a steep road from Kirrin to reach the other children's parents' home is an accurate description of the road over Ballard Down North from Swanage to Studland, the village a couple of miles from Brownsea Island where Enid owned a cottage (up on a hill overlooking the village, to its West) and the golf course next to the cottage. From the hilltop cottage, there is a couple of miles' walk downhill across Studland Heath North to the shore of Poole Harbour opposite Brownsea - and boats could have been hired in the 1950s from the small boatyard on the shore there, at South Haven by the ferry, as the Five do. As Swanage Bay is a 'half moon', crescent shape and a mile or two across I have always assumed Enid used it as her main idea for Kirrin Bay, but invented Kirrin village - Swanage is much bigger. Notably K is small at the start of the series, but large enough to have a hotel and cinema by later books.

[Anita Bensoussane]

Possibly Julian and co's parents' house near Kirrin is just a holiday home - but as Enid doesn't make it clear and calls their mother 'Mrs Barnard' not 'Mrs Kirrin' (Julian and co's father being Quentin Kirrin's brother in the first book) I assume it is another muddle.

Does Julian, Dick and Anne's mother get called "Mrs. Barnard" in Five Have a Mystery to Solve too? I thought that only happened in Five Get Into a Fix, though I could be wrong.

The description of George cycling over a gap between hills and down a steep road from Kirrin to reach the other children's parents' home is an accurate description of the road over Ballard Down North from Swanage to Studland, the village a couple of miles from Brownsea Island where Enid owned a cottage (up on a hill overlooking the village, to its West) and the golf course next to the cottage.

Did Enid and Kenneth own a cottage there? I don't remember hearing about that, though I knew they owned the golf course.

[Rob Houghton]

I was surprised to hear they owned a cottage as well as the golf course. I was also surprised that the cottage overlooked the village...as I only recall seeing the cottage when we visited the area, but maybe I have two different cottages muddled up! The white cottage on the hill is visible from the golf course, if I remember correctly.

[Chrissie777]

As Swanage Bay is a 'half moon', crescent shape and a mile or two across I have always assumed Enid used it as her main idea for Kirrin Bay, but invented Kirrin village - Swanage is much bigger. Notably K is small at the start of the series, but large enough to have a hotel and cinema by later books.

Tim, I could also imagine that Lulworth Cove near Corfe Castle Village at the Jurassic Coast was the inspiration for Kirrin Bay:

https://www.google.com/search?q=Lulwort ... Cg#imgrc=_" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Liam]

Yes, the editions with those covers came out in January 2016 and The Secret Mountain is missing from the series. The Kindle version of The Secret Mountain isn't available anymore in the UK either.

That’s a pity. I thought removing any explicit reference to race solved all the problems. But maybe the abuse Mafumu suffers at the hands of his uncle doesn’t translate very well when there aren’t any other positive adult characters to balance it.

[Rob Houghton]

Basically I think its just that the publisher's dislike black characters of any kind being in Enid Blyton books - they feel that her books should promote a purely white world.

[Anita Bensoussane]

I suppose the whole portrayal of "Africa" (Enid Blyton doesn't give the name of the country) was felt to be vague and too reliant on stereotypes. My personal opinion is that the positive features of The Secret Mountain outweigh any shortcomings. Enid Blyton gives us a strong storyline full of thrills and danger, an exciting setting and a black African boy, Mafumu, who makes firm friends with Jack and co. He is brave, intelligent, caring and looks set to be a leader a few years down the line. The text had already been tweaked so that race wasn't mentioned repeatedly, and I agree that there was no reason to remove The Secret Mountain from the series. It has always been my favourite Secret book. As a child, it made me long to go travelling and learn about other countries.

[Rob Houghton]

You summed up everything I think about the book, Anita. A real tragedy that its no longer being printed. I didn't encounter it until I was in my late twenties, but it is definitely the best in the series for me. It really takes us on a journey and is genuinely tense and exciting, with the main characters in genuine danger.

[joanne_chan]

Just been re-reading "Sunshine Book" 1965 Dean which seems to be a mixture of short stories, extracts from stories and poems. The moral tale of Hi-Feather Tail! is an intriguing one with sticky conclusion.

[joanne_chan]

On The Secrets series, I did manage to get a three in one hardback omnibus from 1991 by Mulberry Editions that starts with the Secret Mountain and ends with the last title in the series. I loved the Secret Mountain when I was younger.

[Anita Bensoussane]

I read Sunshine Book dozens of times as a child, Joanne. As well as the 'Happy House' chapters it contains some of my favourite short stories - 'Father Time and His Pattern Book', 'Santa Claus is Surprising', 'Whatever Next!' and 'Ring the Bell and Run Away'. Hope you enjoy it!