Six Cousins at Mistletoe Farm and Six Cousins Again

[Susie]

I just got these two books off Amazon, and I must say they really are fascinating read. What I didn't understand was, that in the first six cousins book Melisande could all of a sudden sew? It never mentioned anything before about her learning to, it just seems so unlike her to even want to sew. She cried at the drop of a hat, did all the posh people in the olden days all cry when things went wrong or was it just for show?

I just love the names, Smelisande and Cyril Graham, Roderick Roddy for short, I am trying to think which one sounds better, Sorry to all those called Roderick.

[DarrellRivers]

Hi Susie,
I read those books from the school library when I was young and could remember only bits and pieces of it until I recently read a review about it at the book-listings by Anita B and the review was absolutely wonderful, as good as the books themselves and this wanted me to read those books all over again. If you haven't read the review, I recommend you read it! Also, the review on Six Bad Boys by Anita B was also very, very good and touched on a lot of personal aspects of Enid Blyton too which I loved.
Ok enough gushing....
I need to get those two Mistletoe farm books and the Six bad boys. Trouble is besides her more popular series such as famous fives, wishing chair, noddy, etc, I'm not finding too much on Amazon in the US.

[Almas]

HI Suzie, lovely to see a thread on the books. I love them. One of Enid's most touching stories. I own a large, hardback edition containing three Six Cousins books and I managed to read them in less than two weeks.

I have plans to read them again!

[DarrellRivers]

Hi Almas, Do you sleep? What time is it for you where you live? Just wondering

[Almas]

Hehehehe!

Hi Darrell. I'm having holidays so I don't go to sleep the whole night! Its currently, three thirty in the morning and the whole world (around me anyways!) is fast asleep.

What can I do? I am simply addicted to these forums!

[Daisy]

In the 40s & 50s most children were taught to sew in primary school so Enid would take it for granted that the children she wrote about would know how to. Almas, you say you have 3 six cousins books - what is the third one called? Maybe your compilation has divided the 2 books into 3? These books are among my favourites too.

[Almas]

Hi Daisy,

I'm afraid I have no other info related to my edition, only that it is a new 2001 impression. I thought there were only two books in the series and I'm not aware of anything related to the third books. Umm - perhaps its a collection of short-stories compiled together....


Here's a scan of my editons:

[Susie]

In the 40s & 50s most children were taught to sew in primary school so Enid would take it for granted that the children she wrote about would know how to.

Thanks Daisy I also learnt how to sew in school but with a machine, not with a needle and thread, except to sew on buttons.

One thing that irked me was that they kept saying that melisande was fat and saying it to her face. Couldn't they of had some tact where necessary? This doesn't seem like Enid somehow to keep writing it.

Fatty was different wasn't he? I mean he was a thick skinned boy, excuse the pun. He could take all this joking, but this could of had a drastic effect on a young girl like melisande, not that it did though.

[Moonraker]

I also learnt how to sow in school but with a machine, not with a needle and thread

I learned how to sow at school, too; but I used a trowel.

[Daisy]

I love the way you gently point out people's spelling mistakes Nigel! I don't think I would be so subtle so I say nothing!!

[Ming]

Thanks Daisy, for pointing out what Nigel meant by that. I hadn't noticed Susie's typo.

[Moonraker]

I love the way you gently point out people's spelling mistakes Nigel! I don't think I would be so subtle so I say nothing!!

Why, thank you, Miss Daykin!

[Susie]

I also learnt how to sow in school but with a machine, not with a needle and thread

I learned how to sow at school, too; but I used a trowel.

Thanks for the subtle hint Nigel, I am glad that you are paying attention to detail, after all how would we manage without you? There I would of been sow-ing with a sewing machine getting absolutely nowhere fast. What is astonishingly amazing is that Ming did not see it first.
I am editing it now.

P.s I am now off to read Anitas review of the six cousins.

[Lucky Star]

These two books are high on my re-reading list as well. I loved them as a child or at least I think I did. I definitly read the first one but when I read Anita's brilliant reviews on the Book Listing I realised that many of the events and incidents she was describing for the second book did not seem at all familiar to me. I must admit that I am now unsure as to whether I ever actually read the second book at all. I'll just have to buy them and find out.

[manzanita]

I just got these two books off Amazon, and I must say they really are fascinating read. What I didn't understand was, that in the first six cousins book Melisande could all of a sudden sew? It never mentioned anything before about her learning to, it just seems so unlike her to even want to sew. She cried at the drop of a hat, did all the posh people in the olden days all cry when things went wrong or was it just for show?

You beat me to it! I was going to start a post on these books as I just finished reading them, and they are great!

I have no idea whether posh people cry more, but with regards to the characters, I think the use of crying is to show Rose and Melisande's inabilities to cope. Crying is also a girlish thing in Blyton novels, so I think it also accentuates the fact that they are female, and therefore need male help.

I expect Melisande was familiar with a needle and thread in the context of embroidery. As mentioned by others, girls were taught to sew in this period of time. If you look at the school books (MT and SC), embroidery features as a talent to be admired and sewing as a basic life skill. I even had sewing and knitting lessons in my primary school and that was in the 80s. The boys had woodwork and if you were a girl, you couldn't go to the woodwork lessons - you HAD to do sewing and knitting.

I have to say that these books are a welcome change from the idyllic settings of Enid's works. I personally was aware of the presence of death in these books, one from the fact that the animals on the farm would in all probability be killed, and also the very obvious death scenes of the rabbits being killed at the hay harvest and the death of the lamb in "Again". I don't recall anywhere else (apart from Willow Farm where the rabbits are shot and Adventurous Four) death being so present in the books. IIRC, death is mentioned in the past tense - ie. Kit's parents in "The Boy Next Door" rather than a part of the ongoing storyline.

There are some beautifully created characters in these books! They are often polar opposites (Rose and Linnie) or ones with interesting morals - ie. Twigg.

Come to think of it I am not so sure whether Twigg is actually a poacher per se - did he actually kill livestock? If he's killing wild rabbits on someone's land is that really poaching? Trespass maybe, but poaching? Take that big trout he tried to catch - it didn't belong to anyone (IIRC), yet that is poaching?

I think I could write a really long piece on th ese two books as there is so much to say about so much of these books!

Manzy