Blyton's oldest mystery

7:00pm Wednesday 26th September 2007

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A NEW Enid Blyton biography suggests there may be a darker meaning to the author's tales of childhood adventure.

Writer Duncan McClaren, who researched new book Looking For Enid, believes she used her Mystery series of books to poke fun at her first husband, Major Hugh Pollock.

The much-loved children's author, who used Purbeck as the backdrop for so many of her books, may have based the hapless PC Theophilus Goon on Pollock, says McClaren.

However, Blyton enthusiast Viv Endecott, who runs the Ginger Pop shop in Corfe Castle, has dismissed the theory as a "piece of academic tosh".

Police officer Goon is repeatedly outsmarted by the gang of five children, the Finder-Outers, in the Mystery series and McClaren points out several clues that suggest he could be a thinly veiled portrayal of Pollock.

He says the character's odd name allowed Blyton to incorporate unflattering anagrams of her husband's name, while the setting of the books has been established as the village where the author's marriage broke down.

McClaren also believes Goon's inability to think and behave like a child was a dig at Pollock's perceived lack of imagination.

However, Blyton fan Viv said she believed the author would have too busy during the prolific spell in which she wrote the books to have thought about such things.

"It is possible, it is plausible, but it's not probable," she said.

"If it was done to take the mickey, then no-one has noticed for 60 years!

"She may have had time to plot and scheme, but I think it is tenuous.

"I think the idea comes from people with more time on their hands than Blyton had."

Many of the settings in Blyton's novels are inspired by her love of the Isle of Purbeck, where she spent so many holidays.

It is thought all the Famous Five books were conceived on the isle, with Corfe Castle, Kimmeridge Bay and Dancing Ledge making appearances under different names.