Five Fall Into Adventure: the best FF book?

[Rob Houghton]

I agree about Henry - a fantastic character - although hardly anyone seems to agree! I find her fascinating and much more likeable than George to be honest!

[Stephen]

Funnily enough, the only specific thing I can remember about the original broadcast of The Famous Five in the 1970s (apart from the theme tune) was when "Georgina" and "Henrietta" were sniping at one another outside the stables. I was too young to appreciate the series, but that one scene does ring a bell!

[StephenC]

One thing I liked about Mystery Moor was that George more often than not, came off second best to Henry. And Henry features strongly at the end, unlike other FF support characters like Berta! I have long felt that with Five Go Down To The Sea and Mystery Moor, the FF reached its high water mark, and that it was pretty much downhill from 1955 onwards, with the probable exception of the excellent Five Get Into A Fix in 1958.

[Lucky Star]

I have long felt that with Five Go Down To The Sea and Mystery Moor, the FF reached its high water mark, and that it was pretty much downhill from 1955 onwards, with the probable exception of the excellent Five Get Into A Fix in 1958.

Mystery Moor was probably the last time the series was consistently good. After that it would become a bit hit and miss. As you said Into a Fix was excellent. I have also always liked Finniston Farm and Demons Rocks both of which have all the great Blytonian elements to them although neither is as exciting as it possibly could have been. I like Mystery to Solve as well though I recognise that it's actually a pretty poor effort. The remainder are my least favourites of the series though I know others here disagree on some of them particularly Billycock Hill, a book I never liked.

[Rob Houghton]

Mystery Moor has always been one of my top Five favourites. I'm not so keen on 'Down to the Sea' - I'm rereading it at the moment, and I find Yan really irritating!

Of the latter books, I agree Fix is a pretty good one, but I also like Billycock Hill very much - its one of my favourites of the latter section of books. I don't rate Demon's Rocks very highly, and I love Finniston Farm for the old-world feel.

I guess we are all different!

[Stephen]

'Down to the Sea' has always been one of my favourites, but come to think of it, it's not that good. She did much better ones. It's just that my copy is a 1950s hardback in relatively good condition. I read it a lot as a child, and my grandparents lived in Cornwall. It's just possible that if I'd read this for the first time in battered paperback form and had no family connections with the area, I wouldn't like it nearly so much.

[Rob Houghton]

Admittedly, I read it first as an adult (although it was in an old 1950's hardback version) so maybe I'd have liked it better as a child. However, there are other Fives books I also first read as an adult (in fact 19 of them!) and there are many I consider to be my favourites within those 19.

[Nobby]

Hi there, josepmcb,
FFIA definitely is one of my favourite books in the series. It contains an exciting range of elements: an insolent gypsy ragamuffin, night burglars, scientific espionage, drugged dogs, child kidnapping, a mysterious forest and a lonely fortress on the top of a cliff, and in between a decaffeinated teenage love-hate story involving Dick and Jo... Even Joan the cook has her longest role ever, since she is in charge of Kirrin cottage while the masters of the house are enjoying la dolce vita in sunny Seville. Like you said, the absently-minded tantrum-prone and psychotic Uncle Quentin has suddenly become a worldwide celebrity since he began fiddling with atomic energy -god help us all-, and in the very core of the Cold War -in 1950 Stalin was still alive, think of that- Quentin would have become a very much sought out figure by the four great powers who ran the world at the time. I'm inclined to think that Red Tower was at the service of either Moscow or the Nazis exiled in Peron's Argentina while dreaming with the coming of the Fourth Reich.

[StephenC]

I agree with Joseph that FFIA certainly took the FF series to a new level, with a deeper fleshing out of characters, and more intricate and complex plots, plus the introduction of strong support characters like Jo. What a pity that this only lasted for a few years, finishing with Mystery Moor. None of the support characters from Secret Trail onwards, were a patch on Jo and Henry. The twins in Secret Trail, and Finniston Farm were annoying, as was Tinker and Wilfred and Junior. Toby in Billycock Hill was OK, but could have been stronger. Get Into A Fix, was the last hurrah, in my view!
.

[Fiona1986]

Taking this slightly off-topic for a moment (it was that or start a whole new thread)...

More than once I've seen Jo described as Welsh, but I'm having a hard time working out why. I've not that long ago read Five Fall Into Adventure, Five Have a Wonderful Time and I just finished Five Have Plenty of Fun the other week. I can't remember her as having an accent or anything that would suggest Welsh, and she doesn't seem to have a surname let alone a Welsh one.

Any ideas on what I've missed?

[Daisy]

I have never seen it suggested that she is Welsh and would not think it very likely.

[pete9012S]

"Well, I didn't want to go back home again straight away," said Jo. "So I thought I'd pay a visit to my uncle - he's my mother's brother - and I knew he was camping here so I hitch-hiked all the way yesterday, and came late last night."
"Well, I'm blessed," said Julian. "And who is your uncle, may I ask?"
"Oh Alfredo - the Fire-Eater," was Jo's astonishing reply.

Don't know if that helps!

Also:

Jo: Fall Into Adventure:

My mother was in a circus, and she trained dogs for the ring. We had dozens - lovely they were. I loved them all.’
‘Where is your mother?’ asked Julian. ‘Is she still in the circus?’
‘No. She died,’ said Jo. ‘And I left the circus with my Dad.. (Simmy - has both Indian and English meanings)

We’ve got a caravan. Dad was an acrobat till he hurt his foot.’
The four children remembered how the man had dragged his foot as he walked. They looked silently at dirty little Jo. What a strange life she must have led!

[Deejay]

I’ve seen no mention to Jo being Welsh either. There’s no indication of it in the books or in the TV series.

Wasn’t she described as a “gypsy girl” which could maybe indicate she’s Irish (stereotyping I know).

[Boodi 2]

I did not think that gypsies/travellers were particularly associated with Ireland, but perhaps I'm wrong (despite being Irish myself).

[Lucky Star]

I've never seen any mention of Jo being Welsh. Or any other nationality for that matter. I have always just assumed she was some sort of Romany Gypsy which I'm pretty sure is what Enid had in mind when she wrote the character.