REVIEW: The Family at Red-Roofs
There was a time when I read Enid Blyton books. More than that, I had Opinions - the Famous Five were better than the Secret Seven and I'd have much rather been to Malory Towers (St Clare's might have got two head girls, but we never read about their being two head girls, thus making it not as good). And then, despite what some would say given the fondness for girls own books in this lj, I grew up and there was a cull of my Blyton books. I sort of wish I'd kept The Naughtiest Girl series, but I don't think I did. In fact, I rather think that what books I did keep were a random selection and that there was more of slipping through the cracks than intent in the process. Anyhow, Blyton has been someone I've read about more than read for donkey's years, but over the past twenty-four hours (interspersed by sleep, work and grocery shopping), I read (for the first time, I think. It may not have survived a cull as much as been something I absent-mindedly bought after it.)
The Family at Red-Roofs: Enid Blyton. Armada, reprinted 1968
When the Jackson family first look at it, bright, airy Red Roofs seems like a lucky home, and flush with the promise of a raise, Mr Jackson takes it. His wife, Molly, Peter, Michael (oh yes, there is a Michael Jackson) and Shirley move in with delight and excitement as it is bigger and cleaner than their old home. They make friends: Jenny Wren, the maid/housekeeper who isn't, Jackdaw, the boy who comes in to do the garden, and take in a puppy - Bundle. Then Mr Jackson gets the offer of a business trip to America for six months, that may lead to a further promotion (Blyton has a rather muddled message, in that love and loyalty are supposed to be the most important things, but money makes the world go round). Shirley, prophetically, really, really doesn't want her Daddy to go, but go he does, and from that point on things start to go wrong for the Jacksons, meaning that all the children - for Molly was shockingly naive for a girl about to leave school - have to grow up and bear their own burdens. But only for two to three months and then all comes right, except that they've proved themselves.
It is very much a children's book, for all that seventeen year old Molly gets the most space, the flatness of the characters and their world would suggest that it's squarely for someone around the younger kids' age. Speaking of, gruff Michael was my favourite character, as he had a little spark of something to him. Jenny Wren is a cut-out sharp-tongued but kind, grounded member of the lower orders type. Molly's two friends from school, Joan and Prudence, are the to Prove Points. You could get all Freudian about why Mother is Mother and Daddy Daddy and the ending, when it is his return that makes All Right. You could point out that Blyton is glibly unrealistic in preaching that all girls should have a job (ie paid work) plus learn to be housewives. You could list the adjective use or go to town on the shifting viewpoint and tenses and analyse her storytelling. You could say that she could have made more of the striking feature that gave the house its name. Or you could close the book with relief - I was stubborn enough to get through it - and decide that you will finish off that cull.
Edited for typos on 8/1/11.
The Family at Red-Roofs: Enid Blyton. Armada, reprinted 1968
When the Jackson family first look at it, bright, airy Red Roofs seems like a lucky home, and flush with the promise of a raise, Mr Jackson takes it. His wife, Molly, Peter, Michael (oh yes, there is a Michael Jackson) and Shirley move in with delight and excitement as it is bigger and cleaner than their old home. They make friends: Jenny Wren, the maid/housekeeper who isn't, Jackdaw, the boy who comes in to do the garden, and take in a puppy - Bundle. Then Mr Jackson gets the offer of a business trip to America for six months, that may lead to a further promotion (Blyton has a rather muddled message, in that love and loyalty are supposed to be the most important things, but money makes the world go round). Shirley, prophetically, really, really doesn't want her Daddy to go, but go he does, and from that point on things start to go wrong for the Jacksons, meaning that all the children - for Molly was shockingly naive for a girl about to leave school - have to grow up and bear their own burdens. But only for two to three months and then all comes right, except that they've proved themselves.
It is very much a children's book, for all that seventeen year old Molly gets the most space, the flatness of the characters and their world would suggest that it's squarely for someone around the younger kids' age. Speaking of, gruff Michael was my favourite character, as he had a little spark of something to him. Jenny Wren is a cut-out sharp-tongued but kind, grounded member of the lower orders type. Molly's two friends from school, Joan and Prudence, are the to Prove Points. You could get all Freudian about why Mother is Mother and Daddy Daddy and the ending, when it is his return that makes All Right. You could point out that Blyton is glibly unrealistic in preaching that all girls should have a job (ie paid work) plus learn to be housewives. You could list the adjective use or go to town on the shifting viewpoint and tenses and analyse her storytelling. You could say that she could have made more of the striking feature that gave the house its name. Or you could close the book with relief - I was stubborn enough to get through it - and decide that you will finish off that cull.
Edited for typos on 8/1/11.