Mystery Holly Lane

[Green Hedges]

Here are a few notes as to how a reader, say Pete, might approach an Enid Blyton Mystery in an ideal world.

1) Read as a child and be enchanted
2) Read as an adult and remember how one was held and transported by the story.
3) Describe the relationship between the Peterswood of the story and the Bourne End of Buckinghamshire in the 1930s.
4) Do a chapter-by-chapter summary so that you can be sure what actually happens in detail and in order.
5) Acknowledge the contribution of the book’s illustrators over the years.
6) Check out the typescript, if it has survived, the nearest thing to a manuscript in Enid Blyton’s case.
7) Keep an open, educated, flexible, humble mind.
Achieve full vision!
9) Hang on to that vision long enough to be able to say something about said vision.

It’s hard, sustained work. But these steps lead inexorably to this, in the case of The Mystery of Holly Lane: http://www.enidblyton.me.uk/styled-25/index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I forgot to say how much fun it is. Fun in the reading, fun in the analysing, fun in the picturing. Enjoy yourself, Pete, and everyone else who uses these Forums! Happy Xmas!!!

Duncan

[Boodi 2]

Thanks Duncan, and the same to you!
Cheers,
Boodi

[Boodi 2]

PS I enjoyed the review of the Mystery of Holly Lane, although I agree that compared to most of the others in the series it does not really burst into life. I liked the reference to Van Gogh's works at the end and have often thought it is so unfair that he believed he was a failure, while today his works are among the valuable in the world.

[GloomyGraham]

Interesting review.

I recently re-read all of the FFO books and at about the Holly Lane stage I remember being impressed that all the mysteries had been quite different and there was little repetition (although the openings were often very similar - waiting for Fatty to return home from somewhere).

The last two books, of course, spoiled this feeling with the repetition of anonymous letters (with Bets even unable remember what they were despite the prrevious Spiteful Letters adventure) and the overly familiar plot of Banshee Towers.

[Bertie]

Just re-reading Holly Lane once more. I always enjoy it. It flows along nicely, I think - with a good blend of humour and detective work.

One section got me thinking again about something that I've often wondered - and I'm sure I've posted about on here at some stage! Fatty asks Buster, "Why is it that you get so fat when I'm away at school? Can't you possibly go for walks by yourself?"

Which, once again, got me thinking why on earth wouldn't Bets spend plenty of time (or any by the lack of reference to it) with Buster during the school term? When all the rest are staying away at school and she's the only one still at home. She loves him, he loves her. We know in the very first book she's allowed to take Buster out on a walk on her own (when they spot the tramp) - so you'd think both her and Buster (and Mr and Mrs Trotteville!) would enjoy her taking him out for walks, or even just going round to play with him.

But it seems, from how they talk, like she never sees him except for when Fatty returns - even though he's at home during term time, and not away at school with Fatty, so Bets could easily spend plenty of time with him then.

[Boatbuilder]

That's an interesting point, Bertie. It seems that the individual stories were written with no consideration given to the intervening months that could have played a part in the latest story. Maybe Enid thought that, in this case, Bets would have been too engrossed in her education to be able to take Buster for walks. But of course, I doubt she would have been getting educated seven days a week.

[Anita Bensoussane]

Yes, it would make sense for Bets to be allowed to see Buster and take him for walks while the others are away at school. If no one walks Buster at all when Fatty isn't there, surely that's cruel.

Perhaps Enid Blyton didn't think about what their lives were like in between holidays - except to explain things that were to have a direct bearing on certain plots, e.g. Fatty's voice breaking, and his mastery of ventriloquism.

[GloomyGraham]

It might have been a nice short story in Enid's magazine or an annual - 'Bets & Buster to the rescue'.

- Bets wants to write Fatty but says to her mother 'my letters are boring - nothing happens to me on my own'
- Mother asks her to deliver some church notices & Bets decides to take Buster with her for a walk
- Something suspicious occurs on their travels & since Buster is with her, Bets is brave enough to approach Goon at the Police Station
- Inspector Jenks is visiting Goon so she is given a good hearing
- The matter is soon investigated/resolved and Jenks complements Bets & Buster on their good work
- Bets returns home, happy that she now has something exciting to write in her letter to Fatty.

[Bertie]

Good suggestion, GloomyGraham.

A thing that I always found (unintentionally) amusing was Pip's sudden u-turn regarding Marian. When they find out she's disappeared he says, "I thought she was (guilty). Going off like that. Perhaps they've found her, money and all." Then, not long after, when they've found her in the Horsebox, he says, "I think Marian is a jolly nice girl. I thought she couldn't have stolen that money!"

[Anita Bensoussane]

Good spot, Bertie! I expect Enid Blyton intended readers to be amused by Pip's contradictory statements - if they noticed them, which I don't think I ever did! Pip strikes me as a little less likeable than the others at times, e.g. when he's scornful of Bets.

[GloomyGraham]

I went through Holly Lane last night in order to be able to comment a bit more about this book.

Though she and Bets are (of course..) excluded from the night-time investigation by the boys, Daisy makes a more-than-usual contribution in this story:

- She is the one to notice Buster is not with the group and realise he has stayed behind at the station
- She dares Fatty to sell a raffle ticket to Goon - giving readers some funny moments in the book
- She is the one to suggest Fatty rings Jenks when Goon won't listen
- She suggests the sick Frenchman is the ideal witness to who has called at the old man's house
- She finds out that the old man was an upholsterer - a valuable clue
- She suggests the meeting time for the group - and where they can go for tea
- She reminds the group about the curtains towards the end of the mystery

[Bertie]

Yeah, Daisy does chip in with a few more useful comments than normal. And Larry is the one who spots the old man in the first place - and hears him shouting for help having left the cloth behind. So a little more contribution for the Daykin's in this one, and less so for Bets for once (which,
with the exception of Tally Ho Cottage, continues for the rest of the series really having her become pretty much Fatty's main sidekick for a good while).

Though I'd say this is as much, if not more so, a Fatty dominated case. He's the only one there witnessing the furniture robbery, and later measuring the prints. He's on own when he finds the money and works out about the Hoesebox and where it is. He's away from the others when he hears about Marian's disappearance. And then he puts on the wonderful little 'play' at the end where he reveals everything he's discovered.