What is it that makes boarding school stories so irrestistible to those of us who would undoubtedly have cried ourselves to sleep every night separated from all we loved? Blyton has been in and out of favour with grown-ups but remains the children's favourite, with good reason, How she fed our imaginations with adventure, and in the school stories, a wonderful blend of thwarted bullying, innocent dormitory larks, eccentric French teachers, people with strange nicknames, and glamorous schoolgirls, equally proficent at games and work. ( )

It's about twenty years since I read this book as a child, but the storyline came flooding back and it was a joy to read again.