Famous Five: 3: Five Run Away Together: 70th Anniversary Edition: Book 3 (Famous Five 70th Anniversary)

Product Information

These kids would probably grow up into adults where they would marry and cheat and birth the type of kids that they despised when they themselves were children. When the children arrive at Kirrin Cottage for the holidays they find Aunt Fanny poorly and the kitchen handed over to the awful Mrs Stick. Baddies are often encountered there (The Sticks in this book), sometimes rowing there in the dead of night. However, this was written in the early 1940s (during the war, surprise, surprise, though there is hardly any mention of it, but then I guess it is because this book is meant to be timeless, or at least as timeless as the period in which it was written allows). This masterpiece was nothing like our modern YA books that’s filled with ridiculous vulgarities and whatnot.

This is probably also the novel where Julian’s pompous nature (loved by some [me] and hated by most) starts to really develop. After tormenting the Sticks into a retreat, the children rescue the girl and take her to the police, who are amazed to see the child "the whole country is looking for.The stories are adventures of a byegone age, yet still hold the attention of children, around the world. The Sticks are a criminal group willing to exploit the illness of Aunt Fanny and the naivety of Uncle Quentin to their own ends. I remain convinced Enid Blyton secretly wanted to be a food critic, as food was as much a character as anyone.

As a child it was because the Sticks were the bad guys and the good guys were allowed to be mean to them as the baddies were mean first (I hope that makes sense). After that they still felt hungry, so they opened two tins of sardines and dug them out with biscuits. Five Run Away Together starts with George being on her own with Timothy during the holidays and her mother being ill. The parts I skip if I can is where they meet new friends (not in this particular book I’m reviewing) whose parents have died (hence they have a mean uncle/guardian who is up to no good and the F5 have to solve the mystery). Jennifer Armstrong and her family are never mentioned, although the Sticks kidnap George and Dick before Julian and Anne rescue them.with a little bit of everyone in each of them - something that children have obviously known for decades. Blyton knew how to build mystery and intrigue, and still managed to surprise me with a twist, albeit a sinister one.