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The Secret #3
Eachtra San Afraic
Captain and Mrs. Arnold are flying off in their plane, the White Swallow, and apparently have crash-landed in a remote part of Africa. The children, home from school and in the care of Dimmy, team up with Prince Paul, and go flying off in his royal plane to Africa (together with Paul's loyal and devoted courtiers, Ranni and Pilescu) to rescue the Arnolds – and get tangled up with a strange and secretive African tribe with flaming red hair and living within secret tunnels and caves inside a mountain.
99 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1941
28 people are currently reading
449 people want to read
About the author
Enid Blyton
5,132 books6,299 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 45 reviews
October 20, 2020
Total escapism when your mind needs a rest. Where else but in the world of Enid Blyton can a group of school children fly off to Africa to rescue their parents accompanied by a prince and his body guards who can rustle up bacon sandwiches and hot chocolate in the jungle.
May 26, 2008
I loved this book just like I loved The Secret of Spiggy Holes. I liked the character in the book known as Mafumu. He was smart, and caught on to english well. He helped Jack, and saved his parents! I loved this book very much!!!
February 27, 2015
This is possibly the most exotic setting taken up by Enid Blyton in terms of non Fantasy. Here she goes right out of USA and sets the story in Africa. But the story does not work very well because clearly Enid Blyton is not really comfortable in these settings - goes to show how a work can backfire if not well researched. One can genuinely get a feel of Wales and England in Enid Blyton's works, her Africa seems like a hollow shell - if one needs to genuinely know Africa one has to read King Solomon's mines. Due to the Africa not being believable enough, it affects the suspension of belief of the whole story. I believe this is one of her earlier works - one can see greater maturity in handling exotic locales when one reads river of adventure and circus of adventure.
October 5, 2011
This was the first children's novel I ever saw, the first one I ever read, and the reason why I am an ardent reader today. Still have my original copy.
October 1, 2022
The first Enid Blyton novel I read was The Secret of Kilimooin, when I was about 9 years old, and it is still the one I like best. As a child I read a couple of others in the "secret" series, and liked them too, and discovered it was relatively unknown. Most people, when they think of Enid Blyton, think of the "Famous Five" books, perhaps because there were more of them. I read one or two of them as a child, but perhaps because I was too old for them by then, I didn't much like them. So when I discovered The Secret Mountain in a second-hand bookshop, I bought it and read it.
The parents of three English children, Peggy, Mike and Nora, go missing when their aircraft disappears somewhere in Africa, and with their foster brother Jack, and their friend Prince Paul of Baronia (who as a prince, has an aeroplane of his own at his disposal) fly off to Africa in search of them, accompanied by Prince Paul's pilot/retainers Ranni and Pilescu.
I didn't find it as good as the other books in the "secret" series that I have read, perhaps because it is set in Africa, and I live in Africa. Though The Secret of Kilimooin is also set outside the UK, it doesn't seem to have quite the same sense of smug English superiority. In The Secret Mountain there are two non-English children, Paul, the Prince of Baronia, and an African boy, Mafumu. When they do something good or brave, it is "like an English boy". The little incidents in which such things happen pile up, until the overall impression is, in the words of the Flanders and Swann song
The parents of three English children, Peggy, Mike and Nora, go missing when their aircraft disappears somewhere in Africa, and with their foster brother Jack, and their friend Prince Paul of Baronia (who as a prince, has an aeroplane of his own at his disposal) fly off to Africa in search of them, accompanied by Prince Paul's pilot/retainers Ranni and Pilescu.
I didn't find it as good as the other books in the "secret" series that I have read, perhaps because it is set in Africa, and I live in Africa. Though The Secret of Kilimooin is also set outside the UK, it doesn't seem to have quite the same sense of smug English superiority. In The Secret Mountain there are two non-English children, Paul, the Prince of Baronia, and an African boy, Mafumu. When they do something good or brave, it is "like an English boy". The little incidents in which such things happen pile up, until the overall impression is, in the words of the Flanders and Swann song
The English, the English, the English are best
I wouldn't give tuppence for all of the rest
Mafumu is otherwise quite an engaging character, more so than any of the other children, perhaps because he is abused by his uncle, but that is somewhat spoilt by the servile fear he, like the other Africans in the story, shows at the wonders of English technology.
November 24, 2022
You know when a good series starts getting just that little bit unbelievable? This book is where The Secret series hits that.
The 4 kids are back, plus Prince Paul. The kids' parents go off flying to Africa, after telling everyone they'd never fly again, and conveniently crash land and go missing. Just like the time they flew to Australia and crash landed and went missing. I'm thinking that although the dad is the "best pilot in the world", he's lying.
Anyways, suddenly Prince Paul is gifted a "small plane" to fly around England on his 1 week holiday from boarding school, so he chucks a tantrum at some adults and they agree to fly 5 young children to deepest darkest Africa to find their parents, after a search party found nothing. Well wouldn't you know it, if you just ask someone local, they'll tell you exactly where the parents are...sort of. Why didn't the search party think of that?
What follows is some adventures where the children come out on top, and there's a boy who follows (sort of) the magical negro trope, who somehow has quite amazing English after spending a week or two with them all. I wish my language acquisition skills were that good.
Anyway, still an enjoyable story, but it's a bit more far-fetched than the last two, especially the "we just happen to have a plane that can fly all the way to Africa" bit.
The 4 kids are back, plus Prince Paul. The kids' parents go off flying to Africa, after telling everyone they'd never fly again, and conveniently crash land and go missing. Just like the time they flew to Australia and crash landed and went missing. I'm thinking that although the dad is the "best pilot in the world", he's lying.
Anyways, suddenly Prince Paul is gifted a "small plane" to fly around England on his 1 week holiday from boarding school, so he chucks a tantrum at some adults and they agree to fly 5 young children to deepest darkest Africa to find their parents, after a search party found nothing. Well wouldn't you know it, if you just ask someone local, they'll tell you exactly where the parents are...sort of. Why didn't the search party think of that?
What follows is some adventures where the children come out on top, and there's a boy who follows (sort of) the magical negro trope, who somehow has quite amazing English after spending a week or two with them all. I wish my language acquisition skills were that good.
Anyway, still an enjoyable story, but it's a bit more far-fetched than the last two, especially the "we just happen to have a plane that can fly all the way to Africa" bit.
December 7, 2023
The third book in the Secret series, this one has been censored by Blyton's publishers, and it's no longer in print. In fact, they pretend that the book doesn't exist, and that the series has 4 instead of 5 books. In this book, the Arnold children, Jack and prince Paul go to Africa to try to rescue Captain Arnold and his wife, who have disappeared on an airplane trip (it's clear that their resolution after The Secret Island of not going away on more adventures has been forgotten). The book contains the usual not politically correct depiction of native tribes, which is the reason it's been censored. Nothing particularly egregious, though, beyond what you can find in many other books of past eras, when Africa seemed very remote, dangerous and exotic. Also a nice, brave character in the black African boy Mafumu, who befriends the children.
These exotic foreign adventures by Enid Blyton are exciting, as all her stories, but it's more difficult to suspend disbelief for them, as they are less grounded and more far-fetched than the stories set in Britain. We even have here that thing about taking advantage of their knowledge of an eclipse to scare hostile natives, which is a trope too often repeated in African adventure books, although probably new to Blyton's young readers. At least this one is not as far-fetched as The Mountain of Adventure, which was even more incredible for being set in Wales.
This Secret series is quite entertaining and full of dangerous situations, though, reminding me of the Adventure series.
These exotic foreign adventures by Enid Blyton are exciting, as all her stories, but it's more difficult to suspend disbelief for them, as they are less grounded and more far-fetched than the stories set in Britain. We even have here that thing about taking advantage of their knowledge of an eclipse to scare hostile natives, which is a trope too often repeated in African adventure books, although probably new to Blyton's young readers. At least this one is not as far-fetched as The Mountain of Adventure, which was even more incredible for being set in Wales.
This Secret series is quite entertaining and full of dangerous situations, though, reminding me of the Adventure series.
March 10, 2020
Pesawat udara yang ditumpangi Kapten Arnold dan istrinya terdampar di suatu daerah di Benua Afrika dimana keduanya menghilang tanpa jejak. Jack, Mike, Peggy dan Nora bersama Paul berniat menyusul ke Afrika untuk mencari Kapten Arnold dan istrinya menggunakan kapal udara milik Paul. Di Afrika mereka mengalami kejadian-kejadian luar biasa yang melibatkan suku bangsa aneh yang berujung pada menghilangnya Kapten Arnold dan istrinya. Dapatkah mereka menyelamatkan Kapten Arnold dan istrinya serta kembali pulang dengan selamat?
Dari ketiga buku menurut saya cerita ini seru karena berlatar belakang di negara lain dan masalahnya lumayan kompleks namun bisa diikuti. Sikap anak-anak pas awal bilang "yuk kita ke Afrika" entah kenapa sangat precious alias polos sekali :"). Cerita ini juga sedikit mirip dengan karya Blyton Seri Petualang Gunung Bencana karena bercerita tentang perkumpulan rahasia yang bermarkas di dalam gunung. Tapi apa benar kita bisa membuat markas di dalam gunung sungguhan?🤔 Karakter-karakter dari buku sebelumnya juga diadakan lagi disini seperti Dimmy dan Paul. Overall menurut saya ini paling seru terlepas dari isu rasisme.
Rating: 4.5/5
Dari ketiga buku menurut saya cerita ini seru karena berlatar belakang di negara lain dan masalahnya lumayan kompleks namun bisa diikuti. Sikap anak-anak pas awal bilang "yuk kita ke Afrika" entah kenapa sangat precious alias polos sekali :"). Cerita ini juga sedikit mirip dengan karya Blyton Seri Petualang Gunung Bencana karena bercerita tentang perkumpulan rahasia yang bermarkas di dalam gunung. Tapi apa benar kita bisa membuat markas di dalam gunung sungguhan?🤔 Karakter-karakter dari buku sebelumnya juga diadakan lagi disini seperti Dimmy dan Paul. Overall menurut saya ini paling seru terlepas dari isu rasisme.
Rating: 4.5/5
June 2, 2019
kali ini 4 serangkai ingin menolong orang tua mereka yang hilang di belantara Afrika. dibantu oleh pangeran paul dan pesawat terbang beserta dua ajudannya.
cerita kali ini menurutku agak too good to be true, sih. maksudnya, ya kali 4 anak bisa begitu aja terbang ke afrika, tanpa izin dari pihak berwenang, hanya ditemani dua ajudan si pangeran yang manut manut aja dimintain tolong. terus, masih nggak terlalu jelas alasan suku gunung rahasia menyandera kedua orang tua 4 serangkai.
tetapi, yah, sekali lagi ini kan buku petualangan anak-anak. harus dibaca dari sudut pandang anak-anak. jika seperti itu, cerita ini memang cukup mendebarkan dan cukup berbeda dengan cerita enid blyton lainnya, mungkin karena latarnya alam Afrika (yang masih nggak jelas Afrika-nya di mana, pokoknya Afrika. titik.) biasanya kan latar cerita petualangan enid blyton di pantai, di rumah tua, di peternakan, sirkus, dan sekitarnya.
cerita kali ini menurutku agak too good to be true, sih. maksudnya, ya kali 4 anak bisa begitu aja terbang ke afrika, tanpa izin dari pihak berwenang, hanya ditemani dua ajudan si pangeran yang manut manut aja dimintain tolong. terus, masih nggak terlalu jelas alasan suku gunung rahasia menyandera kedua orang tua 4 serangkai.
tetapi, yah, sekali lagi ini kan buku petualangan anak-anak. harus dibaca dari sudut pandang anak-anak. jika seperti itu, cerita ini memang cukup mendebarkan dan cukup berbeda dengan cerita enid blyton lainnya, mungkin karena latarnya alam Afrika (yang masih nggak jelas Afrika-nya di mana, pokoknya Afrika. titik.) biasanya kan latar cerita petualangan enid blyton di pantai, di rumah tua, di peternakan, sirkus, dan sekitarnya.
February 7, 2019
This story was so ridicoulous and unrealistic, that it got me laughing out loud several times. Not that Enid Blyton books are always realistic, but they're at least somewhat possible. This one was just totally crazy. I could see elements of other stories all over the book, so maybe it was just the beginnig of ideas and she just developed them further, later on. The whole mountain thing was almost exactly the same concept as "The Mountain of Adventure" and one scene was exactly the same from "The Children of Kidilin". The character of Mafumu, whose depiction was almost racist (but okay the book was written in the 40s so...), was reminiscent of a character in "The river of Adventure". The adults in this book were completly irresponsible and the children had no personality of their own. It was a very weak Enid Blyton book, if you think about how amazing it could have been.
August 2, 2018
A wild adventure which could only happen during this time period. Who would dream of taking young kids into the jungles of Africa with only body guards being the adults and facing who knows what environment or hostile groups?
But it is fun to read. The reader can almost believe this is possible. While there are some racist portrayals you have to expect that during this time period and this is countered by the well-educated prince even if he behaves childish at times, but that is more because of his spoiled upbringing and his young age than anything else. His bodyguards are very skilled in maneuvering in the jungle and in "civilization" as well.
Reading this I was caught up in the adventure and rooting for the kids' search for their parents. Definitely worth reading.
But it is fun to read. The reader can almost believe this is possible. While there are some racist portrayals you have to expect that during this time period and this is countered by the well-educated prince even if he behaves childish at times, but that is more because of his spoiled upbringing and his young age than anything else. His bodyguards are very skilled in maneuvering in the jungle and in "civilization" as well.
Reading this I was caught up in the adventure and rooting for the kids' search for their parents. Definitely worth reading.
July 31, 2022
Selalu dan selalu membandingkan buku-buku lain Enid Blyton dengan Lima Sekawan. Dan seri ini adalah salah satu yang paling nggak saya sukai. Masalahnya lebih ke bahasanya, sih, daripada isi cerita. Tapi kalau dipikir-pikir memang ceritanya agak lebih 'liar' ya.
Di buku ketiga ini, empat serangkai ditambah Pangeran Paul pergi ke Afrika dengan bantuan Pilescu dan Ranni, dua orang yang dipekerjakan Kerajaan Baronia. Mereka berusaha mencari jejak Kapten dan Nyonya Arnold yang menghilang setelah pesawatnya hilang kontak. Desas-desus menyebutkan kalau mereka dibawa oleh penduduk Gunung Rahasia, orang-orang aneh berkulit kuning dan berambut merah yang hidup di dalam gunung. Dan kali ini mereka mendapat teman baru, Mafumu, si anak kulit hitam yang lincah, yang tak mau lepas dari Jack.
Di buku ketiga ini, empat serangkai ditambah Pangeran Paul pergi ke Afrika dengan bantuan Pilescu dan Ranni, dua orang yang dipekerjakan Kerajaan Baronia. Mereka berusaha mencari jejak Kapten dan Nyonya Arnold yang menghilang setelah pesawatnya hilang kontak. Desas-desus menyebutkan kalau mereka dibawa oleh penduduk Gunung Rahasia, orang-orang aneh berkulit kuning dan berambut merah yang hidup di dalam gunung. Dan kali ini mereka mendapat teman baru, Mafumu, si anak kulit hitam yang lincah, yang tak mau lepas dari Jack.
June 16, 2018
I don't remember much about the content anymore, but I know that books of Enid Blyton were on my bookshelf at my childhood. It was mostly mystery that was captivating and round characters (fully developed). I remember that the ending was always something that I didn't see coming and that is what I liked - this unexpected plot twist and how everything fits together. I'm sure that this and other books from the collection would be interesting to re-read or read for a bit older people. It doesn't have to be only children's literature to enjoy a fine writing.
September 2, 2022
Was interested in this book as an example of Enid Blyton's adventure series for children, with an interest in how the story "holds up" for modern readers. This was a pleasant surprise, the story was interesting and had some drama and suspense. The children who just loved "adventures" were generally shallow and silly, but all the other characters had something substantial about them.
May 31, 2022
I've had this book since I was little, as a 3 in 1 book with the secret island and the secret of spiggy holes. Somehow I've never read it though. It definitely wasn't as good as the first two. Far too over the top and not enough details but I'm glad I've finally read it.
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October 15, 2023I'm sure I'd find a racist trope every other page if I read this today, but the idea of a giant mountain with a tribal society living hidden inside it is as fascinating to me now as it was then. This book was where I first heard of traditions that worship the sun.
March 15, 2024
Writing during the Second World War, Blyton sends her young protagonists on an escapist and rather improbable African adventure. A book notable for its more-or-less non-condescending attitude towards the native boy Mafumu and a rare positive depiction of foreigners (Ranni and Pilescu).
September 10, 2018
Fue el primer libro que me leí a la edad de ocho años, y que me ha convertido en la lectora empedernida que soy hoy en día.😍
November 28, 2019
Unbelievably racist, unrealistic, boring story written by English woman -series 1938-1953 written. I read half. It was too awful to finish.
June 7, 2020
I was unimpressed with the inference to Africa as a country rather than a continent.
July 2, 2020
This was a 1970’s version of the book so not at all politically correct! It was fun to read and bought back memories of reading it as a child
February 17, 2021
Classic adventure story and highly ranking in Blyton's prolific series of books.
March 23, 2021
This is one of my favorite books since I was a child. Read it twice already. Will read it again~
January 28, 2022
A childhood favourite
July 6, 2022
My childhood favourite
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August 15, 2022Read when I was a kid :)
November 5, 2022
That went disappointingly mystical for no reason. Trigger warning for cults and mysticism.
January 20, 2024
A fast paced enjoyable read. I thought it had a lot of similarities to the lost world by Arthur conan doyle but without the dinosaurs.
May 18, 2024
Great book
June 28, 2024
This was one of my favorite books as a kid and I remember this was the one that my mom grounded me from reading because I read too much
Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews