Mischief at St Rollo’s by Enid Blyton

Mischief at St Rollo’s by Enid Blyton

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Mischief at St Rollo’s is never going to change the world. It’s a typically Blytonian school story; new kids go to a school, thing happen, shenanigans, shenanigans, end of term, I can’t wait to go back! It’s not high literature nor is it quite the same as some of her better work in the Malory Towers books, for example. But what Mischief At St Rollo’s is so fiercely utterly readable that sometimes I can’t quite believe how Enid Blyton manages it.

Let me explain a little what I mean by that. Readability is, I think, something Blyton excels at. She is confident, brisk and blunt in her writing. She never uses two words when one will do. She hits her beats, she gives the briefest of characterisation to her characters, and she gets out of Dodge before they even know she’s there. The first page, for example, is brilliant. We are introduced to Micheal and Janet. They don’t want to go to boarding school (does anybody ever in Blyton land?), but their parents are being nice and sending them to a mixed school so they can stay together. Micheal and Janet decide to make the new school sit up a bit. And that’s all done in half a page. Literally half a page. And that’s Blyton, she goes straight for the narrative jugular and doesn’t care less. We know nothing about the room they’re in, what they look like or where they live; we know the important things: school, school, school. And when we’re there, it’s equally brisk. Everything is fine, everything is great, everything is not great! everything is sorted. Hurrah! See you next term!

I mean, it’s awful on one level but it’s brilliant on another. These are books that will make readers out of even the most reluctant individual – even if they don’t want it. There’s no choice and honestly? I rather love how brazen it all is. Enid gets the job done. And woe betide anybody who stands against her.



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