Part of Series
Julian, Dick and Anne arrive in Kirrin Cottage to stay with George (real name Georgina) for the holidays. They plan to spend time exploring Kirrin Island but their happiness is spoilt when Aunt Fanny falls ill and has to leave with Uncle Quentin to be treated in a far-off hospital. They are cared for by Aunt Fanny's temporary cook, Mrs Stick, who is accompanied by her husband and their ghastly son Edgar. The Sticks and the four children come to hate each other. Mrs Stick repeatedly tries to poison George's dog Timmy, prompting George to hatch a secret plan to run away to Kirrin Island. When Julian catches her leaving, she decides to allow the other children to go with her. The children find evidence of other people visiting the island and suspect smugglers. The discovery of a young girl's toys and clothes point to something sinister going on.
Author
See also: Ένιντ Μπλάιτον (Greek) Enida Blaitona (Latvian) Энид Блайтон (Russian) Inid Blajton (Serbian) Енід Блайтон (Ukrainian) Enid Mary Blyton (1897 - 1968) was an English author of children's books. Born in South London, Blyton was the eldest of three children, and showed an early interest in music and reading. She was educated at St. Christopher's School, Beckenham, and - having decided not to pursue her music - at Ipswich High School, where she trained as a kindergarten teacher. She taught for five years before her 1924 marriage to editor Hugh Pollock, with whom she had two daughters. This marriage ended in divorce, and Blyton remarried in 1943, to surgeon Kenneth Fraser Darrell Waters. She died in 1968, one year after her second husband. 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. According to the Index Translationum, Blyton was the fifth most popular author in the world in 2007, coming after Lenin but ahead of Shakespeare. See also her pen name Mary Pollock
