Bruno Vincent (1)

Five forget Mother's Day

Sometimes giving books the benefit of the doubt is a Good Thing.

Having been underwhelmed by 'Five Go Parenting' and 'Five on Brexit Island' I was pleasantly surprised to enjoy the latest instalment in Bruno Vincent's 'Enid Blyton for Adults' series: 'Five Forget Mother's Day'.

What's it about?

George has, somehow, managed to fail to give her mother, Aunt Fanny, a present for the last few important occasions in her life, despite - or perhaps because of - her cousins' show more helping her to find the perfect gift.

Now Mother's Day is approaching and George is determined to make amends by treating her mother to a very special Mother's Day gift. Just as long as she doesn't have to actually be in the same room as her mother or anything drastic like that; that would only cause arguments.

It can't possibly all go wrong again - can it? But when Aunt Fanny unexpectedly comes to stay with the Formerly Famous Five in their London flat, there's tension aplenty and things take A Turn for the Worse.

Can George make amends? Is Fanny really a complete bitch? What was Julian like as a baby? It's the famous five all grown up - well, OK, maybe not grown up, but grown old enough to drink and swear and hold down jobs where they are avoided by their co-workers - but they're as full of Plans as ever.

What's it like?

Quite a pleasant short read. There's a proper storyline (George's desire to make amends to her mother and her mother's ability to irritate all of the five beyond sense) which is almost completely plausible (WHY when they fail to buy their first gift in a timely manner don't they just buy it anyway and send it a day late?) with a proper ending.

The five are all perfectly captured as adults with their young selves from Enid Blyton's originals shining through these slightly more modern incarnations. Dick is genial and good-looking but thick; Anne soft, beautiful and sensible; George brusque to the point of rudeness; and Julian is an arrogant drunk who seems unaware of his massive drink problem - according to Aunt Fanny, anyway.

I really quite enjoyed this outing and problem-solving by the five. The agonies of family politics are well-realised!

Final thoughts

This is the best in the series yet, or at least, in my opinion, the best out of the three I've read so far. (I found the plots of the other two I read too implausible.)

Vincent adds just enough substance to the plot and humour to the narrative to make this a pleasant short read.

This is obviously designed to appeal to fans of the original books. This time, they won't be disappointed. show less

Book 43 - Bruno Vincent (with thanks(?) to Enid Blyton) - Five Get Gran Online

Not sure where I got this one from so apologies if you gave this to me. If you grew up loving Enid Blyton and I did, although I was more of A Secret Seven than Famous Five, you will love this.

More than slightly irreverent but still so like an actual Famous Five book, except they are now in their late 20s or early 30s. Not exactly a children’s book anymore, due to a smattering of bad language, but very very show more funny...with some genuinely laugh out loud moments.

From the endless cups of tea made by ‘Gran’ to the somehow still alive Timmy the dog - this will have you tilting your head with nostalgia as you realise that with mobile phones, access to the internet and access to alcohol these are the Five from your youth but not as you remember them.

With other books in the series including ‘Five go on a Strategy Away Day’, ‘Five escape Brexit Island’ and ‘Five lose dad in the Gardening Centre’...might be worth tracking a few more of these down. Funnier than I expected. show less

This is one of those slightly naff, slightly funny parody books that people get you at Christmas if they don’t know you that well. I actually thought it was surprisingly sharp, the scenario of ‘younger family completely ignore and forget elderly relative, and then when they remember they exist charge in like a bull in a china shop with no context mostly making things worse’ is very well observed, but made me wince more than laugh at times.

But there’s a big happy ending, not really show more due to anything our protagonists do, so it’s all ok, right? show less

I was reading the adventures of the Famous Five some 55 years ago. Enid Blyton's stories had me, as a 5 year old, hooked. I, therefore, came to this book with 'baggage'. I really enjoyed the first few chapters: character traits, which feel so right, that I am sure that they were in the original, but missed by my youthful self, became something at which to laugh. It was done well. This is not a spiteful destruction of old friends, rather a mature chance to reappraise those who seemed such show more decent chaps, and lassies, all those years ago.

After about 35 pages, I found that the joke was wearing thin and I ceased to read. I always feel guilty about not finishing a book: if an author has made the effort to write a hundred pages, my conscience tells me that I should do the easy bit, and read a hundred pages. The more I considered this, however, I began to realise that, in the times that have given us politicians who make promises, and then brazenly tell us that we really shouldn't have been foolish enough to believe such nonsense; we now had the book which didn't expect to be read. It is a joke and, once one knows the punchline, any further investigation reduces the pleasure.

I hope that books that don't need to be read, do not become the norm, but I have to concede that I did enjoy this one and it finds a place upon my bookshelf. show less