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The Famous Five #20
Five Have a Mystery to Solve
Mystery awaits the Five on strange Whispering Island. At the end of a cliff passage there is a vast chamber full of golden statues and other treasures - but villains are lurking just around the corner.
170 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1962
About the author
Enid Blyton
5,386 books6,512 followersSee also:
Ένιντ Μπλάιτον (Greek)
Enida Blaitona (Latvian)
Энид Блайтон (Russian)
Inid Blajton (Serbian)
Інід Блайтон (Ukrainian)
Enid Mary Blyton (1897–1968) was an English author of children's books.
Born in South London, Blyton was the eldest of three children, and showed an early interest in music and reading. She was educated at St. Christopher's School, Beckenham, and - having decided not to pursue her music - at Ipswich High School, where she trained as a kindergarten teacher. She taught for five years before her 1924 marriage to editor Hugh Pollock, with whom she had two daughters. This marriage ended in divorce, and Blyton remarried in 1943, to surgeon Kenneth Fraser Darrell Waters. She died in 1968, one year after her second husband.
Blyton was a prolific author of children's books, who penned an estimated 800 books over about 40 years. Her stories were often either children's adventure and mystery stories, or fantasies involving magic. Notable series include: The Famous Five, The Secret Seven, The Five Find-Outers, Noddy, The Wishing Chair, Mallory Towers, and St. Clare's.
According to the Index Translationum, Blyton was the fifth most popular author in the world in 2007, coming after Lenin but ahead of Shakespeare.
See also her pen name Mary Pollock
Ένιντ Μπλάιτον (Greek)
Enida Blaitona (Latvian)
Энид Блайтон (Russian)
Inid Blajton (Serbian)
Інід Блайтон (Ukrainian)
Enid Mary Blyton (1897–1968) was an English author of children's books.
Born in South London, Blyton was the eldest of three children, and showed an early interest in music and reading. She was educated at St. Christopher's School, Beckenham, and - having decided not to pursue her music - at Ipswich High School, where she trained as a kindergarten teacher. She taught for five years before her 1924 marriage to editor Hugh Pollock, with whom she had two daughters. This marriage ended in divorce, and Blyton remarried in 1943, to surgeon Kenneth Fraser Darrell Waters. She died in 1968, one year after her second husband.
Blyton was a prolific author of children's books, who penned an estimated 800 books over about 40 years. Her stories were often either children's adventure and mystery stories, or fantasies involving magic. Notable series include: The Famous Five, The Secret Seven, The Five Find-Outers, Noddy, The Wishing Chair, Mallory Towers, and St. Clare's.
According to the Index Translationum, Blyton was the fifth most popular author in the world in 2007, coming after Lenin but ahead of Shakespeare.
See also her pen name Mary Pollock
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 190 reviews
December 17, 2016
I'm being very generous with my rating system here. The book is simply sub-par. No amount of rhetoric will change that. Now I understand why I don't remember reading the 20th Famous Five book. I had perhaps made an attempt, and did not finish the book.
The story is ludicrous beyond belief. Our Five want to go camp in a quaint, crooked looking cottage. The cottage have a world class view of the coastline, the harbor, the island etc. To those not familiar with this series, I think the mention of the word island will make the initiated perk up in anticipation.
Sadly, my anticipation was cheated by the paucity of proper plotting. So why am I giving this parody 4 stars? I think it's because of the setting, of the token willful boy who gets tamed on contact with the Five. This book should not have been greenlit for publishing. I could say more, but I'm done.
The story is ludicrous beyond belief. Our Five want to go camp in a quaint, crooked looking cottage. The cottage have a world class view of the coastline, the harbor, the island etc. To those not familiar with this series, I think the mention of the word island will make the initiated perk up in anticipation.
Sadly, my anticipation was cheated by the paucity of proper plotting. So why am I giving this parody 4 stars? I think it's because of the setting, of the token willful boy who gets tamed on contact with the Five. This book should not have been greenlit for publishing. I could say more, but I'm done.
March 29, 2017
Well, here we are; the penultimate Famous Five book. There's not much sign of Enid running out of steam, though. All the essentials are here for the Famous Five drinking game.
You're not familiar with the Famous Five drinking game, you say?
Well, it's a little something I developed with my F5 buddy-reader, Sunshine Seaspray. It goes like this:
The Five make Uncle Quentin angry: DRINK!
The Five eat enough food to put a whole troop of elephants into a diabetic coma: DRINK!
George defies traditional gender stereotypes: DRINK!
Anne delights in living up to traditional gender stereotypes: DRINK!
Timmy the dog SAYS 'Woof' instead of actually barking: DRINK!
Dick says it's pointless giving Timmy a certain type of food because he eats it too fast to taste it: DRINK!
Julian acts like a stuck-up bossy-pants: DRINK!
The Five discover a hidden/underground passage/tunnel: DRINK!
The Five notice some shifty looking people who are probably up to no good: DRINK!
The Five befriend a weird kid after initially disliking them: DRINK!
The Five get important plot exposition from an old person: DRINK!
The Five discover enough treasure for them all to retire on but give it to the police instead: DRINK!
Legal Disclaimer: please remember to always drink responsibly. Anybody under the legal age for drinking alcohol in their country, or who chooses not to imbibe alcohol, may play this game with orangeade or other fizzy pop of their choice.
You're not familiar with the Famous Five drinking game, you say?
Well, it's a little something I developed with my F5 buddy-reader, Sunshine Seaspray. It goes like this:
The Five make Uncle Quentin angry: DRINK!
The Five eat enough food to put a whole troop of elephants into a diabetic coma: DRINK!
George defies traditional gender stereotypes: DRINK!
Anne delights in living up to traditional gender stereotypes: DRINK!
Timmy the dog SAYS 'Woof' instead of actually barking: DRINK!
Dick says it's pointless giving Timmy a certain type of food because he eats it too fast to taste it: DRINK!
Julian acts like a stuck-up bossy-pants: DRINK!
The Five discover a hidden/underground passage/tunnel: DRINK!
The Five notice some shifty looking people who are probably up to no good: DRINK!
The Five befriend a weird kid after initially disliking them: DRINK!
The Five get important plot exposition from an old person: DRINK!
The Five discover enough treasure for them all to retire on but give it to the police instead: DRINK!
Legal Disclaimer: please remember to always drink responsibly. Anybody under the legal age for drinking alcohol in their country, or who chooses not to imbibe alcohol, may play this game with orangeade or other fizzy pop of their choice.
September 28, 2015
Same Story, Different Island
30 September 2015
Well, I am getting close to reading all of the Enid Blyton books that I intend on reading (I have no interest in Mallory Towers or the Naughtiest School Girl, and since Blyton wrote heaps of books, and I have already read quite a few, I think I will leave it with the Famous Five and Secret Seven) so I am slowly getting there and hopefully once they are out of the way I can then look at reading some other series that I have been itching to read again for a while (though I won't say what they are just yet). Actually, come to think of it, there are a few series I want to read again, but I think I am getting a little ahead of myself.
Anyway, not surprisingly, the Famous Five are once again on holidays (I wish I had as many holidays as these kids get) and once again they are off on a bicycle adventure. This time it is to a harbour which is apparently the second biggest harbour after Sydney Harbour (which I must admit is some feat because Sydney Harbour is huge, but then again San Francisco also has a pretty massive harbour, or is it technically a bay, not that I would know the difference). I didn't think there were any massive harbours in England, and even if there were wouldn't they be located in some huge industrial city such as Liverpool or Newcastle?
Anyway, let us leave the issue of this harbour behind and get on with the story, not that there is all that much to say about this story because it tends to follow the same pattern that many of the other Famous Five stories follow. Basically they meat a kid at the cottage where they are staying (and this kid has a strange affinity with animals – including Timothy) which they start off hating but then after he saves their lives they decided that he his pretty cool. There is also a mysterious island with a ruined castle on it (much like the one back at George's house) which they decide to go an explore, even though people tell them that bad things happen to nosey people there (not that it's stopped them before).
Well, you can probably guess what happens because, well, this is an Famous Five book, and they all tend to pretty much follow the same pattern. Yep, they find some bad people who are involved in smuggling antiques, get captured, manage to escape, get the police involved, who then storm the island and arrest the bad guys, all the time while the Famous Five are watching, and then they (the Famous Five that is) go off and have an enjoyable rest of the holidays.
However these days when I read about the police storming an island and arresting the bad guys I cannot help but think that they look something like this:
30 September 2015
Well, I am getting close to reading all of the Enid Blyton books that I intend on reading (I have no interest in Mallory Towers or the Naughtiest School Girl, and since Blyton wrote heaps of books, and I have already read quite a few, I think I will leave it with the Famous Five and Secret Seven) so I am slowly getting there and hopefully once they are out of the way I can then look at reading some other series that I have been itching to read again for a while (though I won't say what they are just yet). Actually, come to think of it, there are a few series I want to read again, but I think I am getting a little ahead of myself.
Anyway, not surprisingly, the Famous Five are once again on holidays (I wish I had as many holidays as these kids get) and once again they are off on a bicycle adventure. This time it is to a harbour which is apparently the second biggest harbour after Sydney Harbour (which I must admit is some feat because Sydney Harbour is huge, but then again San Francisco also has a pretty massive harbour, or is it technically a bay, not that I would know the difference). I didn't think there were any massive harbours in England, and even if there were wouldn't they be located in some huge industrial city such as Liverpool or Newcastle?
Anyway, let us leave the issue of this harbour behind and get on with the story, not that there is all that much to say about this story because it tends to follow the same pattern that many of the other Famous Five stories follow. Basically they meat a kid at the cottage where they are staying (and this kid has a strange affinity with animals – including Timothy) which they start off hating but then after he saves their lives they decided that he his pretty cool. There is also a mysterious island with a ruined castle on it (much like the one back at George's house) which they decide to go an explore, even though people tell them that bad things happen to nosey people there (not that it's stopped them before).
Well, you can probably guess what happens because, well, this is an Famous Five book, and they all tend to pretty much follow the same pattern. Yep, they find some bad people who are involved in smuggling antiques, get captured, manage to escape, get the police involved, who then storm the island and arrest the bad guys, all the time while the Famous Five are watching, and then they (the Famous Five that is) go off and have an enjoyable rest of the holidays.
However these days when I read about the police storming an island and arresting the bad guys I cannot help but think that they look something like this:
May 21, 2022
Веома занимљива авантура 🐶
June 17, 2019
This one I think I may have read once before, but it certainly wasn't one that stuck out in memory for me. I have to admit one thing that always amazes me about these five children is that they seem to have such a carefree world and be able to cycle around, hire out boats, and adventure in the wilds of England without any hinderance. I do admire that the world used to be like that, nowadays you certainly wouldn't let kids get up to the things that they did in these books.
This tells the story of the five going to meet with a young boy called Wilfred and living with him whilst his grandmother is away. They all stay in a ramshackle old house on the edge of a cliff and they can see an island out in the bay which they are rather curious about. As always they can't resist investigating, and I enjoyed seeing their adventure and even Anne coming into her own a bit more here.
A fun one but not one which had too much nostalgia for me, 2.5*s.
This tells the story of the five going to meet with a young boy called Wilfred and living with him whilst his grandmother is away. They all stay in a ramshackle old house on the edge of a cliff and they can see an island out in the bay which they are rather curious about. As always they can't resist investigating, and I enjoyed seeing their adventure and even Anne coming into her own a bit more here.
A fun one but not one which had too much nostalgia for me, 2.5*s.
April 24, 2019
... reading with my 10 year old daughter...
Again a captivating read. When you close that book, you want more.
Again a captivating read. When you close that book, you want more.
February 13, 2026
Lånade den här av brorsan när jag var barn. Inledningen till slukaråldern.
April 2, 2017
Well I quite liked Wilfred but with our insular five they couldn't possibly just welcome him into the fold.
The cracks are beginning to show...
George is a pillock and would rather put good old Timbo in perilous danger at every turn whilst simultaneously issuing Wilfy boy with a restraining order not to come within a country mile of him.
Anne is showing signs of lust for adventure and may yet hang up her pinny and mother hen award.
Dick decides to not to be mini Julian and strikes out of the shadows.
Timmy says 'woof' and this time he means it! He also wishes Wilf would take him away from all this crap or at least knew the number for the RSPCA.
Julian still thinks he's in charge but Anne and Dick may flip at any moment even if George is losing her edge and Tim runs off into the sunset with Wilf.
Well narrated but...
I miss you Jan I miss you Jan I miss you Jan I miss you Jan I miss you Jan I miss you Jan
JAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNN!
The cracks are beginning to show...
George is a pillock and would rather put good old Timbo in perilous danger at every turn whilst simultaneously issuing Wilfy boy with a restraining order not to come within a country mile of him.
Anne is showing signs of lust for adventure and may yet hang up her pinny and mother hen award.
Dick decides to not to be mini Julian and strikes out of the shadows.
Timmy says 'woof' and this time he means it! He also wishes Wilf would take him away from all this crap or at least knew the number for the RSPCA.
Julian still thinks he's in charge but Anne and Dick may flip at any moment even if George is losing her edge and Tim runs off into the sunset with Wilf.
Well narrated but...
I miss you Jan I miss you Jan I miss you Jan I miss you Jan I miss you Jan I miss you Jan
JAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNN!
December 31, 2018
My last book read in 2018! It was definitely amazing! I love it! 😍
August 6, 2021
I’ve had so much fun with this series - despite the plethora of tunnels, caves, wells, treasure and large stones that must be moved. The only thing that’s missing is the ginger beer.
April 12, 2012
The Famous Five by Enid Blyton
“Five have a mystery to solve”
The famous five written by Enid Blyton is a great series of books. This one called “Five Have a Mystery to Solve” is about the famous five meeting a boy and then having a mystery which starts when they are told stories about a whispering island, and then decide to go there.They find out that two men are trying to steal some golden treasure and have captured the man that lives on the island so they can go through his house.The famous five and the boy get caught and locked in the same dungeon with the man who lives on the island.
I particularly like the old fashioned and the detailed language that Enid Blyton uses in her books.
Annick age 8
“Five have a mystery to solve”
The famous five written by Enid Blyton is a great series of books. This one called “Five Have a Mystery to Solve” is about the famous five meeting a boy and then having a mystery which starts when they are told stories about a whispering island, and then decide to go there.They find out that two men are trying to steal some golden treasure and have captured the man that lives on the island so they can go through his house.The famous five and the boy get caught and locked in the same dungeon with the man who lives on the island.
I particularly like the old fashioned and the detailed language that Enid Blyton uses in her books.
Annick age 8
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 9, 2012
These books (Famous five) are hands down one of my favorite books from my childhood. All those adventures and mystery …and those sandwiches they always packed! aww, just the best! I would love to read one of these again. To bring back those memories..memories of first experiences with reading books.
October 8, 2019
Coming to the end of the series. This one wasn't a bad read but once again, as in the other later books, it was formulaic. It's like she was churning them out at this stage. Not a bad read but not a patch on the earlier ones.
Liked it better this time.
Liked it better this time.
June 22, 2026
Did get a bit bored at times. Not saying Enid was reheating her nachos from the first book (I think it was the first book?) but this adventure just wasn’t as interesting to me. Oh well. ONE MORE TO GO 🔥🔥
July 19, 2023
Can't believe I never read this as a kid!
For one of her later ones, it's a bit odd - the kids all feel quite young, and it has major Five on Treasure Island vibes.
With one notable exception:
Anne gets character development!
This has only happened previously in the one where she stays behind and misses out - can't remember title - villain is called Red.
For one of her later ones, it's a bit odd - the kids all feel quite young, and it has major Five on Treasure Island vibes.
With one notable exception:
Anne gets character development!
This has only happened previously in the one where she stays behind and misses out - can't remember title - villain is called Red.
January 20, 2021
Well this was an odd one, Blyton seems to have come at this in a very different way - and that's ignoring the oddness of the description of Lucas (Odd for a children's book anyway.)
It's a little bit blah this one. Considering the lack of anything in this book and the repetition of plot in the last few I think she might have not wanted to write any more several books ago. I got the feeling that Blyton had wanted this to be the very last one, with the wrap-up ending.
Not even the description fo the beauty bay helps. (You do have to question why George has never been there considering it is a bike ride away -maybe it moved at the same time as the cousins?). Nor can topless Lucas nor the nine-year-old, whistle-playing all-animal charmer save it.
It's a little bit blah this one. Considering the lack of anything in this book and the repetition of plot in the last few I think she might have not wanted to write any more several books ago. I got the feeling that Blyton had wanted this to be the very last one, with the wrap-up ending.
Not even the description fo the beauty bay helps. (You do have to question why George has never been there considering it is a bike ride away -maybe it moved at the same time as the cousins?). Nor can topless Lucas nor the nine-year-old, whistle-playing all-animal charmer save it.
September 7, 2025
“The nicest word in the English language is holidays!”
The Famous Five visit a coastal home and become intrigued by nearby Whispering Island, rumored to be haunted. With the help of their new strange friend, Wilfrid, they explore the island and uncover a gang of criminals hiding stolen treasure.
This one actually felt like a tap back to the earlier books. It felt mysterious, the group stuck together, and Anne actually had quite an important role to play. I thought Wilfrid was a rather peculiar addition to the story but the overall plot and enjoyment of this book surprised me, especially considering how far into the series we are.
My ranking: #10/21
The Famous Five visit a coastal home and become intrigued by nearby Whispering Island, rumored to be haunted. With the help of their new strange friend, Wilfrid, they explore the island and uncover a gang of criminals hiding stolen treasure.
This one actually felt like a tap back to the earlier books. It felt mysterious, the group stuck together, and Anne actually had quite an important role to play. I thought Wilfrid was a rather peculiar addition to the story but the overall plot and enjoyment of this book surprised me, especially considering how far into the series we are.
My ranking: #10/21
December 6, 2010
What to say now? This was really as exciting as ever. The most interesting part was when the five were on Whispering Island. They way they escaped from that cave through the well was really fascinating. I wish I had such adventures! They found various gold statues and jewels. Well, at last it was mentioned that Whispering island, the cottage on the hill in which the Five lived and Morris who used to tell tales about the island are all real. This was from the side of the author- Enid Blyton. I liked the novel and will give 4 stars to it ****.
November 7, 2021
kali ini lima sekawan ditawarin nginep di rumahnya bu layman buat nemenin cucunya yg namanya wilfrid di rumahnya di atas bukit!!
ceritanya sendiri seru juga, tp ga kompleks. kalo dibandingin sm petualangan” lain yg udah kubaca ak cm bisa kasih rate 3 di buku ini. cukup buat bacaan ringan n ngobatin rasa penasaran sama petualangan lengkapnya famous five..
ceritanya sendiri seru juga, tp ga kompleks. kalo dibandingin sm petualangan” lain yg udah kubaca ak cm bisa kasih rate 3 di buku ini. cukup buat bacaan ringan n ngobatin rasa penasaran sama petualangan lengkapnya famous five..
January 4, 2021
It's a best adventure book.
May 21, 2025
ใกล้จะจบชุดแล้ว แต่เรื่องราวแบบเดิม ๆ เพิ่มเติมคือความเอ๊ะ! ในหลาย ๆ เรื่อง ทั้งโจรที่จับเด็กได้แล้วก็ปล่อย จับใหม่แล้วขัง ห้องลับในบ่อน้ำ ทางเดินลับที่บนหน้าผา สมบัติมหาศาลในปราสาทเก่า หลาย ๆ อย่างดูไม่สมเหตุผล (ซึ่งปกติก็หาได้น้อยอยู่แล้ว) แต่รอบนี้หาผลมารองรับ (แถ) ไม่ได้เลย เหมือนจับเอาจุดเด่น ๆ ของแต่ละเล่มเก่า ๆ มารวมกัน แล้วไอ้จู่ ๆ สามพี่น้องย้ายบ้านมาใกล้บ้านจอร์จนี่มันอะไรกัน (2.5 ดาวอ่ะเล่มนี้)
November 5, 2025
Just a cute adventure story..Nostalgic cause of the fact my dad used to read the famous five as well♥️
Have read this one once before when I was 7ish...safe to say i don't remember a thing (at the time i do remember I read it in class and think I was distracted LOADS 😅)...
Good times & now back to my other reads!
Have read this one once before when I was 7ish...safe to say i don't remember a thing (at the time i do remember I read it in class and think I was distracted LOADS 😅)...
Good times & now back to my other reads!
July 31, 2019
These books are super-nostalgic for me, and as a non-binary person hindsight is 20/20 on why I relate to George so much!
Yes, I did read this instead of Lord of the Rings so I'd pass all my OWLs, I was running out of time!
Yes, I did read this instead of Lord of the Rings so I'd pass all my OWLs, I was running out of time!
March 8, 2020
The 20th and penultimate Famous Five. As much as I’ve enjoyed reliving my youth by reading these with my daughter I’m sad to say this was poor by the previous standard.
I found it slow and predictable. Hoping the final entry goes back to an exciting read.
I found it slow and predictable. Hoping the final entry goes back to an exciting read.
July 14, 2019
Not as believable as most of the other famous five books, but still an enjoyable read.
November 13, 2019
Not the best in the series, by a long way. The "mystery" was quite peculiar, and there were many loose ends, which didn't make much sense.
September 16, 2023
Nostalgia-"it was ok". If memory serves, it really isn't...
January 18, 2024
Childhood memories <3
October 7, 2017
I read it just to reminisce my childhood...
October 28, 2026
Onto Book 20 with its hilariously unimaginative title, one that could have been applied to any other Famous Five book.
Mrs Kirrin was regretting moving closer to her relations around Kirrin Island. Until now, she had been able to palm off her children on the obliging Aunt Fanny and less obliging Uncle Quentin. This had worked so well that the children knew the names of their aunt and uncle, yet none of them appeared to know the names of their own parents.
This ignorance showed itself later in the story. Anne seemed astonished that anyone could like golf, but Dick (who knew their father slightly better, though they were not on first name terms) recalled that their father was an avid golfer.
If only Mrs Kirrin could find a way to palm off her children on someone else this year, as she had done for the last 19 holidays, all of which had inexplicably taken place in one year. Yet still the children were complaining about the long time between their holidays, which could only be a week at most.
For Mrs Kirrin the holidays could not end too soon. Her greatest hope was her friend Mrs Layman, who wished to speak to the children. If only she could send the Five somewhere else for the holidays.
The Five were reminiscing about their time at school. Rather improbably, Anne had come top in her class, even though she was the stupidest of the Five (and I am including Timmy), and none of the Five were exactly great intellectuals. George wondered just how dense the rest of Anne’s class must be.
If George had been aware that the Five were fictional characters, she would possibly have wondered why Enid Blyton had chosen Book 20 to change Anne’s intellect, or why she had not given poor Anne (the timidest of the Five) a compensating intelligence from the start.
It turned out that Mrs Layman wanted the Five to stay in her home during her absence. Mrs Kirrin breathed a sigh of relief, and the Five immediately warmed to the idea of leaving their parents for the 20th holiday in a row.
There was only one setback for the Five. This was an obnoxious child called Wilfred who hoped to have the house to himself. The Five were astounded to find that Wilfred was an animal whisperer, who could summon animals to his will. A hare frisked by him. Timmy became silly around him. A shark lay on its back for him to tickle his tummy, but Wilfred decided instead to jump the shark. Anne was worried that Wilfred would call up a boa constrictor. As a reminder, Anne came top in her class that year.
George instinctively disliked Wilfred as she does every child who gets a golden ticket to join the Five for one adventure. However, like those buddy cop movies, the two will begin by hating one another and then become friends, or at least, in the case of Georgina, attain a frosty tolerance for the tyke.
Fortunately Wilfred took a liking to Timmy, and allowed the Five to stay. Why they wished to share the place with him, I am uncertain. He sent out a distinct vibe of being a budding serial killer to me. Did he want Timmy because he liked the dog, or was Wilfred intending to develop his vivisection skills?
However Wilfred soon became nicer when Anne suddenly developed a second new personality trait, and fiercely attacked Wilfred, throwing cold water over him. What’s going on with Anne? Is she hitting puberty after 20 years of being a teenager?
Close to the place where they were staying, the Five discovered an island whose owner was mysteriously absent, but possibly hostile. ‘Did we need another island for the story?’ George wondered; ‘I already have one that has featured in two stories. But perhaps this one has some treasure on it – like my island did. Remote islands always have hidden treasure’. They do in Famous Five stories anyway.
Realising that there is always a helpful local who knows about these things in Famous Five books, our heroes went to speak to him about the island. He offered them orangeade. “Do you not have any ginger beer?” asked Dick; “We always drink ginger beer”. “I’m sorry,” said the local; “We had a large supply of it, but I believe some snooty kids arrived here on their school holidays and drank it all in the first week”
The Five expressed their surprise, as they had spent the last few weeks guzzling down ginger beer, and did not remember seeing any snooty schoolchildren in the area.
Next the Five hired a boat, even though they did not have the money. Thankfully, the owner kindly agreed to let them pay later. Given Anne’s weird behaviour in this book, who knows what wicked deeds she would have performed to earn the money if they had not.
Naturally the Five soon found themselves visiting the island, and ineptly managing to strand themselves by losing their boat. ‘Gosh!’ thought Dick. ‘I hope the owner of this island isn’t a psychopath who hunts children for sport in the manner of “The Most Dangerous Game”.’
While the Five saw some men on the island, they instinctively avoided them, because the men looked disreputable, and – worse still – foreign! The horror! The horror!
This did not prevent Timmy from stealing ham from one of the men and being shot. Gosh! I didn’t see that coming. Timmy dying in the penultimate book. Presumably in Five Are Together Again, Timmy is together with them in spirit only, and the Five lose their taste for adventure and disband. Oh well, Timmy had it coming for being a thief.
Oh wait, this is a Famous Five book where nothing so horrible happens. Timmy’s tail was injured, but he was unaffected by this mere flesh wound for the rest of the story.
Fortunately Wilfred turned up with another boat. You didn’t think he was going to be missing from the rest of the story, did you? Just in time, as Timmy started choking to death. Wow, he really isn’t going to make it out of the story, is he? This time Wilfred saved Timmy’s life, earning the love, well frosty tolerance, of George. “I will make sure a big dog does not swallow a small item again, said George, apparently not noticing that the illustrators had drawn Timmy as a little dog.
This did not prevent the foolish Wilfred being captured by the nasty and probably foreign criminals. The Five listened to his screams for help, and worried that he was being tortured. Perhaps one of the baddies was breaking his fingers even while they spoke. Fortunately, this being a Famous Five book, the enemies turned out to be soft. They even released Wilfred, buying his story about coming to the island to look at the animals.
The Five decided to get some water from a well, but their bucket-handling skills proved to be as incompetent as their ability to secure a boat. The bucket fell down the well instead. Seeing a chance to steal Julian’s alpha male status away from him, Dick eagerly seized the opportunity to be lowered down the well on a rope.
“I bet Dick finds a secret passageway down there,” said Julian. “There’s always a secret passageway everywhere we go.” “I bet you a macaroon that he finds some hidden treasure down there,” Anne countered. “We’re about due to find some.”
They pulled Dick up. “Did you not hear me calling?” exclaimed Dick. “I found a mysterious door down there.” Anne passed a macaroon to Julian. They lowered Dick down again. “There are gold coins down here!” yelled Dick. Julian passed the macaroon back to Anne.
From this point on, the story followed purely formulaic lines, which may explain why the Five were barely frightened. They found the hidden treasure, but were locked in by the villains. Thankfully, the kind-hearted villains decided to imprison the Five and release them later, rather than killing them. Incidentally, the villains were foreign, and had names like Carlo and Emilio, so I suppose they must have been Spanish for no reason whatsoever.
The Five promptly escaped using the secret passageway, which was somehow overlooked by the villains who had been living on the island for some time, and who had been working from this very room.
Instead of leaving the island immediately, the Five decided to have a nap, and nearly lost their boat until Anne turned tiger and frightened the gentle villains away. Rawr! Doubtless Anne will forget her new personality in the final Famous Five book.
Finally, while the Five were considering what to do next, Enid Blyton decided the book had reached the acceptable wordcount and offered up a rushed ending in which the Five called the cops and the crooks did not have the sense to flee before they arrived.
In short, a fun book with the usual Famous Five cliches, and only one original idea – which was frankly bizarre – a boy who charms every animal, including snakes and beetles.
Mrs Kirrin was regretting moving closer to her relations around Kirrin Island. Until now, she had been able to palm off her children on the obliging Aunt Fanny and less obliging Uncle Quentin. This had worked so well that the children knew the names of their aunt and uncle, yet none of them appeared to know the names of their own parents.
This ignorance showed itself later in the story. Anne seemed astonished that anyone could like golf, but Dick (who knew their father slightly better, though they were not on first name terms) recalled that their father was an avid golfer.
If only Mrs Kirrin could find a way to palm off her children on someone else this year, as she had done for the last 19 holidays, all of which had inexplicably taken place in one year. Yet still the children were complaining about the long time between their holidays, which could only be a week at most.
For Mrs Kirrin the holidays could not end too soon. Her greatest hope was her friend Mrs Layman, who wished to speak to the children. If only she could send the Five somewhere else for the holidays.
The Five were reminiscing about their time at school. Rather improbably, Anne had come top in her class, even though she was the stupidest of the Five (and I am including Timmy), and none of the Five were exactly great intellectuals. George wondered just how dense the rest of Anne’s class must be.
If George had been aware that the Five were fictional characters, she would possibly have wondered why Enid Blyton had chosen Book 20 to change Anne’s intellect, or why she had not given poor Anne (the timidest of the Five) a compensating intelligence from the start.
It turned out that Mrs Layman wanted the Five to stay in her home during her absence. Mrs Kirrin breathed a sigh of relief, and the Five immediately warmed to the idea of leaving their parents for the 20th holiday in a row.
There was only one setback for the Five. This was an obnoxious child called Wilfred who hoped to have the house to himself. The Five were astounded to find that Wilfred was an animal whisperer, who could summon animals to his will. A hare frisked by him. Timmy became silly around him. A shark lay on its back for him to tickle his tummy, but Wilfred decided instead to jump the shark. Anne was worried that Wilfred would call up a boa constrictor. As a reminder, Anne came top in her class that year.
George instinctively disliked Wilfred as she does every child who gets a golden ticket to join the Five for one adventure. However, like those buddy cop movies, the two will begin by hating one another and then become friends, or at least, in the case of Georgina, attain a frosty tolerance for the tyke.
Fortunately Wilfred took a liking to Timmy, and allowed the Five to stay. Why they wished to share the place with him, I am uncertain. He sent out a distinct vibe of being a budding serial killer to me. Did he want Timmy because he liked the dog, or was Wilfred intending to develop his vivisection skills?
However Wilfred soon became nicer when Anne suddenly developed a second new personality trait, and fiercely attacked Wilfred, throwing cold water over him. What’s going on with Anne? Is she hitting puberty after 20 years of being a teenager?
Close to the place where they were staying, the Five discovered an island whose owner was mysteriously absent, but possibly hostile. ‘Did we need another island for the story?’ George wondered; ‘I already have one that has featured in two stories. But perhaps this one has some treasure on it – like my island did. Remote islands always have hidden treasure’. They do in Famous Five stories anyway.
Realising that there is always a helpful local who knows about these things in Famous Five books, our heroes went to speak to him about the island. He offered them orangeade. “Do you not have any ginger beer?” asked Dick; “We always drink ginger beer”. “I’m sorry,” said the local; “We had a large supply of it, but I believe some snooty kids arrived here on their school holidays and drank it all in the first week”
The Five expressed their surprise, as they had spent the last few weeks guzzling down ginger beer, and did not remember seeing any snooty schoolchildren in the area.
Next the Five hired a boat, even though they did not have the money. Thankfully, the owner kindly agreed to let them pay later. Given Anne’s weird behaviour in this book, who knows what wicked deeds she would have performed to earn the money if they had not.
Naturally the Five soon found themselves visiting the island, and ineptly managing to strand themselves by losing their boat. ‘Gosh!’ thought Dick. ‘I hope the owner of this island isn’t a psychopath who hunts children for sport in the manner of “The Most Dangerous Game”.’
While the Five saw some men on the island, they instinctively avoided them, because the men looked disreputable, and – worse still – foreign! The horror! The horror!
This did not prevent Timmy from stealing ham from one of the men and being shot. Gosh! I didn’t see that coming. Timmy dying in the penultimate book. Presumably in Five Are Together Again, Timmy is together with them in spirit only, and the Five lose their taste for adventure and disband. Oh well, Timmy had it coming for being a thief.
Oh wait, this is a Famous Five book where nothing so horrible happens. Timmy’s tail was injured, but he was unaffected by this mere flesh wound for the rest of the story.
Fortunately Wilfred turned up with another boat. You didn’t think he was going to be missing from the rest of the story, did you? Just in time, as Timmy started choking to death. Wow, he really isn’t going to make it out of the story, is he? This time Wilfred saved Timmy’s life, earning the love, well frosty tolerance, of George. “I will make sure a big dog does not swallow a small item again, said George, apparently not noticing that the illustrators had drawn Timmy as a little dog.
This did not prevent the foolish Wilfred being captured by the nasty and probably foreign criminals. The Five listened to his screams for help, and worried that he was being tortured. Perhaps one of the baddies was breaking his fingers even while they spoke. Fortunately, this being a Famous Five book, the enemies turned out to be soft. They even released Wilfred, buying his story about coming to the island to look at the animals.
The Five decided to get some water from a well, but their bucket-handling skills proved to be as incompetent as their ability to secure a boat. The bucket fell down the well instead. Seeing a chance to steal Julian’s alpha male status away from him, Dick eagerly seized the opportunity to be lowered down the well on a rope.
“I bet Dick finds a secret passageway down there,” said Julian. “There’s always a secret passageway everywhere we go.” “I bet you a macaroon that he finds some hidden treasure down there,” Anne countered. “We’re about due to find some.”
They pulled Dick up. “Did you not hear me calling?” exclaimed Dick. “I found a mysterious door down there.” Anne passed a macaroon to Julian. They lowered Dick down again. “There are gold coins down here!” yelled Dick. Julian passed the macaroon back to Anne.
From this point on, the story followed purely formulaic lines, which may explain why the Five were barely frightened. They found the hidden treasure, but were locked in by the villains. Thankfully, the kind-hearted villains decided to imprison the Five and release them later, rather than killing them. Incidentally, the villains were foreign, and had names like Carlo and Emilio, so I suppose they must have been Spanish for no reason whatsoever.
The Five promptly escaped using the secret passageway, which was somehow overlooked by the villains who had been living on the island for some time, and who had been working from this very room.
Instead of leaving the island immediately, the Five decided to have a nap, and nearly lost their boat until Anne turned tiger and frightened the gentle villains away. Rawr! Doubtless Anne will forget her new personality in the final Famous Five book.
Finally, while the Five were considering what to do next, Enid Blyton decided the book had reached the acceptable wordcount and offered up a rushed ending in which the Five called the cops and the crooks did not have the sense to flee before they arrived.
In short, a fun book with the usual Famous Five cliches, and only one original idea – which was frankly bizarre – a boy who charms every animal, including snakes and beetles.
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