SECRET SEVEN ON THE TRAIL—Enid Blyton

This story takes place in the school term that leads up to Christmas. Peter want to temporarily disband the Society as he has to study hard but, confronted by the others' objections, and the notion of carrying on as the Secret Six without him, he re-asserts his position as leader and accedes to their wishes. So the children continue to wear their Society badges and, when other children express a wish to join, Janet foolishly suggests that, as their society is full, they should form their own — an idea that Susie seizes on immediately. In a shamelessly blatant plug, Enid has Susie form a rival club — the Famous Five.

For the first time, Susie really comes into her own and, as a character, she is far more interesting than any of the girls in the Secret Seven. Janet in her role as Peter's sister is spirited and competitive, but Pam and Barbara never progress beyond being gigglers and squealers, with no real ideas or suggestions of their own and the three girls are regularly left out of any potential danger. Indeed Susie is a stronger character than either Colin or George who are very much camp followers. I find it somewhat unrealistic that the parents of Jack and Susie allow one sibling to belong to a society that the other is barred from when she so desperately wants to belong. If Peter had been big enough to change the Society to the Exciting Eight and admit Susie to the ranks, she would have been a definite asset. But Peter rules by force of personality and Susie would always be a potential challenge to him, particularly as her brother, Jack, is the second strongest character in the Seven. Peter's character is in contrast to that of the Find-Outers' Fatty who earned his position of leader through his ability and his peers' respect.

However, Susie forms her rival society and inadvertently places the Seven in another mystery that again centres on a half-heard criminal conversation, overheard this time by Jack and George at Tigger's Barn. It is while playing with train and farm sets that the Seven realise that the rogues were referring to the railway, but no mention is made this time of Peter and Janet living on a farm. The busy railway station with its sidings, points and signals again implies a busy, bigger town. Several fictional towns are mentioned, particularly Petlington, but the mention that the 6.02 train comes through the station "right on to Swindon" — a rare mention of a real place — implies that this station is based on the real one at Beaconsfield, itself on a longitude to Swindon. The descriptive "bang bang" of fog signals adds to this viewpoint. This exciting, mysterious and well-written story I rate, along with the next entry, as the best in the series

By,

Deepthi Sivan

No:13