Review: Enid Blyton A Literary Life by Andrew Maunder
Andrew Maunder takes a look of one of the highest selling and, most surprisingly, controversial authors of the twentieth century Enid Blyton, in this latest instalment of the Literary Lives series. Enid Blyton rose to fame in the 1920s and by the advent of the Second World War was one of the highest selling authors in the United Kingdom and in many other Commonwealth countries such as Australia and New Zealand. Acclaim for the author soon turned to criticism with many pointing to the lack of depth in her stories and the peddling of values that as early as the 1960s were considered to elitist, sexist and racist. Following her death two biographies would draw an unflattering portrait of the author, portraying her as selfish and childish, first Barbara Stoney's biography and later, the more shocking A Childhood at Green Hedges written by Blyton's youngest daughter Imogen, in which she portrayed her mother as selfish and distant. Enid Blyton A Literary Life acknowledges these cla...