Best Blyton Blurbs

[Judith Crabb]

Until I borrowed a new book from the library 'Blurb your enthusiasm An A-Z of literary persuasion' by Louise Willder I never thought of Enid Blyton in terms of blurbs. As a professional blurber Willder has created blurbs for thousands of books. Blurbs are there to encourage readers to buy the books and I guess back in the fifties Blyton readers didn't need much encouragement. The front flaps of dust-jackets sometimes told about the book, but those short punchy lines on the front or backs of the paperbacks by Agatha Christie or Georgette Heyer which I bought with pocket money as presents for my mother didn't apply - there were no Enid Blyton paperbacks in those days. I suppose the nearest to blurbs were the descriptive two- or three- liners that appear on the flaps of the fifties Famous Five jackets eg for 'Go Adventuring Again': 'Christmas at Kirrin Cottage, the queer plan, the stolen papers!'. Not a bad blurb from the 1956 jacket, and suitable for contemporary readers, minus that word. (see below for the 21st century blurb - which is the better blurb do you think?)
Last night looking at the contents page of Willder's book I see listed 'Simply Wizard! Blurbing Blyton' which begins 'Oh, Enid, how I love you. Let me count the ways.' Of course I read those pages immediately. Willder interviews Sarah Topping who re-wrote the blurbs for several Enid Blyton series published for a new generation of readers. I took down from my shelves the very few modern paperbacks by Blyton I have bought (mainly for interest in how they were edited).
So here is a modern blurb from 2017: 'A thief at Kirrin Cottage! The Famous Five think they know who it is - but they need proof!'

[Anita Bensoussane]

Of the two blurbs for Five Go Adventuring Again I prefer the 1956 one as it says a little more about the happenings ("queer plan" and "stolen papers" sound more intriguing than simply "A thief"). Also, the structure of the blurb with three distinct parts separated by commas - "Christmas at Kirrin Cottage, the queer plan, the stolen papers!" - is punchier and more rhythmic, and conveys a feeling of mounting excitement. The 2017 blurb is quite plain by comparison.

As a youngster I didn't take much notice of blurbs - I literally judged books by their (front) covers! By the age of 11 I thought I'd read all the Enid Blyton books that were in print at the time (though I hadn't bothered with all the Noddy or Mary Mouse titles) so I considered my collection complete. However, I was 11-and-a-bit when I spotted Adventure of the Strange Ruby in the shops (a 1979 Beaver paperback) and hesitated for a moment, wondering if I might be too old for it (or at least if other people might consider me too old for it!) For once I did read the blurb on the back, wanting to know more, and the last line convinced me to buy it as it stated that it was "for readers of nine to twelve"! Here is the blurb in full:

A holiday in Dorset turns into the adventure of a lifetime when Tessa and Pat go to the rescue of their friends Faith and David, inheritors of a priceless ruby which always brings misfortune to its owners.

A thrilling story for readers of nine to twelve.

I was thirteen when I came across The Mystery That Never Was and bought it guiltily, knowing I was supposed to have "grown out of" Enid Blyton but being unable to resist another Blyton adventure. A 1983 Armada edition with a red band across one corner announcing "New in Paperback", it has the following blurb:

Nicky's Uncle Bob, a private investigator who has come for the holidays, seems down in the dumps. Perhaps he would cheer up if Nicky invented a mystery for him to solve...

But there's a nasty shock in store for Nicky. When spooky lights signal in the night from the crumbling mansion on Skylark Hill, he realises that his mystery is coming incredibly, scarily, true...

Neither of the two books turned out to be as thrilling as the blurbs promised, to be honest, but I was pleased to have them nevertheless.