Also, in my headcannon, which isn’t in the book, Martin sends Anne a picture of the island from art school. They start writing letters to each other and develop a friendship/romance. [ Wing: Oooh, I like this bit. Headcanon accepted.] Final Thoughts Anne sits next to him and watches in awe as he paints the figures. I kind of ship it. Blyton has shown the difference in Martin when he’s not sad and bullied. And you can see why he would have told his father about the passage in the quarry – when everything he does is displeasing to his father, he’d definitely try something more manly like, “Hey, I was looking for old weapons (RARGH!) in the quarry (*beats chest*) with other boys. And I found a cave which I want to explore because BEHOLD HOW MANLY I AM!” Martin is actually surprised to find out that George is a girl, not a boy, and is very sheepish about the whole thing. Julian asks if he’s going to explore the passageway with his father, and he says yes. Julian tells him it’s their exploration and they’re not going to let Martin or his father in. Arrogant little brat. Blyton was a prolific author of children's books, who penned an estimated 800 books over about 40 years. Her stories were often either children's adventure and mystery stories, or fantasies involving magic. Notable series include: The Famous Five, The Secret Seven, The Five Find-Outers, Noddy, The Wishing Chair, Mallory Towers, and St. Clare's.

Fanny adds that if he doesn’t signal, she’ll visit every day. Anne adds that they’ll come too. So why did Julian need to ask? It seems to me that the girliest members of the group have got his measure. It isn’t only boys that can learn to give in decently, and things like that,” she said. “Heaps of girls do. Well, I jolly well hope I do myself!” George gives a watery smile but isn’t really mollified, so Anne suggests she take Timmy for a walk and cool down a little. This is actually very good advice and it works. I don’t think anyone’s mentioned it here, but Anne is actually quite good at handling George’s moods, whether deliberate or not. In book 3, she indirectly manipulated George into putting on a brave face because she was upsetting Tim. She’s actually much better at cooling George’s upsets than Julian, who tends to get bossy with her. Anne = secret manipulative genius? George is unhappy. She wants to see Timmy. She must see Timmy. Is he all right over there on the island? She rushes over to the local coastguard and uses his telescope to see close-up through the window of the tower. She spots a man but no Timmy. Is that person her father — she can't quite make out the features. Why isn't Timmy with him? She panics a little or perhaps that could be increased to A Lot! Aunt Fanny then turns to Julian and asks him to ask Quentin to signal to her twice a day. Why? Because MEN DON’T LISTEN TO WIMMINS, AMIRIGHT? Because that’s literally the only reason I can think of. Oh, wait. Or maybe she’s incredibly shy. I remember tugging at my mum’s hand and hissing, “ask her!” on my first week of primary school, when I was too shy to invite my new best friend to my house for dinner.Well, she says that she and Tim have never been separated (what about that year when your parents made you get rid of him?), so she must stay with him. Quentin says no to that. As they’re both hot-headed and stubborn, both fly into a rage. Then they have hot scones, fresh from the oven. I’m not really sure I can get behind that. I prefer my scones room temperature. The science involves a tall tower made of plastic with wires poking out of the walls and a glass room at the top. We later learn that the experiment has the power to cause an explosion that would completely destroy the whole island. This is not, however, the reason Quentin has recused himself to the island (much to George's disgust). No, health and safety were never mentioned. Eschewing this simple and reasonable reason why Quentin might need to be on an uninhabited island Bylton wanders out on the slender limb of her scientific knowledge and declares that his work needs to be conducted beneath water and with water on all sides. We never find out why.

The Five meet someone they do not fully thrust, at least not all of them so they quarrel about that. Uncle Quentin is his own peculiar self and his wife must form a dam of peace between him and the children. Some people play they minor but reliable part: James as a devoted trustee of George, Joanne who provides them with enough food to feed an army. George looked a little mutinous after this rather long speech, but she thought a great deal of Julian, and usually went by what he said. He was older than any of them, a tall, good-looking boy, with determined eyes and a strong chin.This time the coastguard is making toys for his grandson. Martin was going to come by and paint them – he’s very artistic – but he had an accident. It looks like he slipped and fell somewhere. I’m guessing quarry. Julian looked at his cousin. “I say, old thing, you’re not going to take this business of Kirrin Island too much to heart, are you?” he said. “You’ve just got to realise that your father’s a remarkably clever man, one of the finest scientists we’ve got—and I think that those kind of fellows ought to be allowed as much freedom as they like, for their work. I mean—if Uncle Quentin wants to work on Kirrin Island for some peculiar reason of his own, then you ought to be pleased to say ‘Go ahead, Father!’” When Mr Curton stomps off, they go in and ask Martin how he hurt himself. He says he let it slip to his father about the passageway in the quarry, and he slipped and fell into the quarry. The kids are dismayed that an adult knows their secret, and I don’t blame them, given all the angst Quentin put them through in book 1. On the other hand, George has been blurting everything inside her head this book, so she’s hardly one to talk. Sadly, the book’s not half as interesting as the last sentence implies. Wing, calm down. [ Wing: Damn it, why must this book get my hopes up so?]