The Enid Blyton Society

I know this may seem a bit silly but I do want to know everything about Barbara Stoney. When was she born? Was she a fan of Enid Blyton since her childhood? What are her favorite Blyton books? How did she compile the biography?

Please, I do want to know everything about her.

Tony, Anita, Viv (and others) HELP!

Hi Almas,

Hi really wish I could answer your question but I'm afraid I'm no expert -- although I would simply love to know more about Barbara. I think she must be born sometime in the 30's or 40's. In Amazon.Com, it says that other than being a biographer she is also an author and has written Sybil, Dame of Sark and Henry Ford, the Motor Man.

Yeah -- I guess she indeed must be a great Blyton fan.

I've been searching the forums for any postings on Barbara Stoney's book - Enid Blyton- The Biography, but couldn't find anything, so have decided to put my posting here. If there is a thread on the Biography, Anita, please feel free to emerge this posting.

It's been a few years since I read Barbara's book and I have started to read it again, slowly and digesting every single word. I'm not surprised that Enid was very close to her father, as we learn from the book, (something I'd forgotten) that Enid's father craddled her all night when Enid was three months old with whooping cough. Something a mother would probably be doing, but Enid's father did this instead. A close bond would have developed I think right from this moment on. And a thought which I have always had, seemed more probably after reading this again. And I think that all her life, Enid missed her father terribly, more than anyone realized and her only consulation was to emerge herself into her work.

I'm only at the start of the book still, and Enid is now teaching at the boys school. But I'm glad I've picked up this book again.

I'm almost at the end of this book now, having been reading it slowly and digesting every word.

I was interested to read that apart from Five on a Treasure Island, and Five Have a Mystery to Solve, another two books had been made into films, Five Go Adventuring Again and Five Get into Trouble. The books says a Danish company filmed these. Has anyone seen these two films at all or know anything about them?

One other thing I thought when reading, was that Barbara tells us that it was one of the staff at Green Hedges who mentioned to Hugh about Enid's 'gentleman callers', and then someone rung Enid to tell her of Hugh seeing Ida Crowe. My first thought was, 'Wouldn't you think people had enough to do worrying about the war that was on at that time, instead of 'tell taling?' If these two gossips hadn't said anything, I wonder if events would have turned out the way they had??

Julie2owlsdene wrote:I was interested to read that apart from Five on a Treasure Island, and Five Have a Mystery to Solve, another two books had been made into films, Five Go Adventuring Again and Five Get into Trouble. The book says a Danish company filmed these. Has anyone seen these two films at all or know anything about them?

Part of Five Go Adventuring Again was shown at the Enid Blyton Day a few years ago and I've also seen Five Get into Trouble. They're nicely-filmed and I found them quite appealing.

Thanks for the info, Anita. I don't expect they're out on DVD. I'd love to see Five Get into Trouble. Have you seen the whole of this film, Anita?

They're not out on DVD in English, Julie, but someone lent me Five Get into Trouble a few years ago. It was all in Danish or German (I can't remember which!) but I did like the way it was filmed, with lots of countryside and bike-ride scenes.

Julie2owlsdene wrote:Thanks for the info, Anita. I don't expect they're out on DVD. I'd love to see Five Get into Trouble. Have you seen the whole of this film, Anita?

Hi Julie,

the German name of the film is "Fünf Freunde in der Tinte" (unlike the book which has the title "Fünf Freunde geraten in Schwierigkeiten"). It is or was available both on VHS and DVD. You'll find a text-file with the German dialogues and a translation of them in the Yahoogroup. So if you happen to get a copy you should be able to follow it. I don't know if a Danish version is on the market, the DVD I have is only in German. It was also aired several times on Free TV in Germany.
It seems that there's no DVD of the first Danish/German co-production available, maybe that'll be the next project of the Famous Five Fan Page .

Thanks for that info Wolfgang.

I've enjoyed reading this book again, and all it contains of Enid and her works. Some of the questions in my mind I know will never now be answered, but it did strike me as odd that Kenneth didn't seem to agree with the heart specialist that Enid's heart was sound. It had me thinking that maybe the breathlessness she experienced etc could indeed have been some sort of inner depression she was suffering from, causing the odd panic attack due to nerves etc. Sometimes these symptoms can be mistaken for an M.I.

If she was just in the early stages of dementia, then maybe these confusions did set off these attacks, due to fear of the unknown etc. As I say, it's all speculation now as some of her diaries that may have given us the answers were all destroyed. Such a shame. Made me wonder if Kenneth was destroying something that he didn't want others, her family and fans to find out about.

Another thought struck me also. Did all Enid's pets die before she did, if they didn't, what happened to them all?

I recently borrowed this from my Grandma, and am thoroughly enjoying it. It's got great detail and is very informative and unbiased, plus it has pictures on shiny plates! I expect lots of people on here have also read it. I wonder if Stoney interviewed Dick Hughes, the handyman at Old Thatch, because it seems to have lots of things only he could know, and lots from his point of view... Anyway, if you've read it and want to chat about it, I'd love to.

I read it last year and thoroughly enjoyed it. Unfortunately as I borrowed it from the library I had to read it fairly quickly as it had to go back, and I don't remember as much from it as I would have liked. I was fortunate enough to get my own copy recently, but as I'm currently reading Enid's 'The Story of My Life', it will have to wait a little while.

My only disappointment with the book is the relatively short section of Enid's life that was spent in Suffolk, particularly Ipswich. As I'm Ipswich born and bred I would have loved to have an idea of what she thought of the place and where she visited. I don't know if she kept a diary at that stage of her life, but either there is none in existence or it's contents weren't considered interesting enough for the general public.

I badly want to read the book and have looked for it but have not been able to find it. I want to know so much about Enid Blyton and feel so sad she is not here to answer the questions we have for her.

Copies pop up on both ebay and amazon fairly regularly

Copies are also available from the Society Shop:

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