To quote a few apt lines from Enid Blyton's "The Poet," published in In writing this biography I relied heavily on the following books: Her father, Thomas Carey Blyton, had many talents: he painted in watercolors, wrote poetry, learned to play piano, taught himself foreign languages, and was a … I also loved a passage describing Blyton's move to Elphin Cottage. Indoors she played card games, Snakes and Ladders, Draughts and Chess. I loved Enid Blyton books as a child and have enjoyed them all a second time round with my own children. His absence put even more strain on the already fragile marriage and, while on holiday with Dorothy in Devon in the spring of 1941, Enid Blyton met the man who was to become her second husband, surgeon Kenneth Fraser Darrell Waters. Among them the Famous Five series of books, the Adventures series, Malory Towers series and the Five Find Outers & Dog series are very successful. One night, when Enid was not quite thirteen, the children heard their father state angrily that he was leaving and would not be coming back. A prolific writer, she completed over 400 books during her lifetime. Next she became governess to the four Thompson brothers, relatives of Mabel Attenborough, at a house called Southernhay in Surbiton, Surrey. Her mother's biography had to be written by a mature woman who understood about being married and a mother. Stern and house-proud, Theresa did not approve of Enid devoting so much time to nature-walks, reading and other hobbies when there was work to be done in the house. She was aware that her true talent lay in telling stories, but found it impossible to convince her family of that. While he was serving in the Navy in the First World War, his ship had been torpedoed at the Battle of Jutland, permanently damaging his hearing. I would love to know so much more, I 'discovered' Enid Blyton in 1968, the year she died, when my teacher read us 'The Magic Faraway Tree,' I was hooked & I devoured her books. In her autobiography, That was marvellous to me. They both wrote voluminously and both received the scorn of their critics. Her mother's biography had to be written by a mature woman who understood about being married and a mother. She is famous for being an exceptional author of children’s books. She was born in Dulwich, South London, England. May 1st 2007 Always book-starved, I glommed onto that book and fell straight into the story. To this day, her books are still popular among many. By the early 1960s it was apparent that she was suffering from dementia. So it has to be on the narrative and writing style. To Enid's shock she learnt that there was another woman in his life, Florence Agnes Delattre, a secretary, and that from now on he would be living with her. Enid Blyton Biography. Their mother was not fond of animals and their father was worried that cats and dogs might spoil his garden. It was in Beckenham that her younger brothers were born: Hanley Blyton and Carey Blyton. Enid sent off numerous stories and poems to magazines in the hope that they would be published but, except for one poem which was printed by Arthur Mee in his magazine when she was fourteen, she had no luck at this stage, receiving hundreds of rejection slips. I am a huge fan of Enid Blyton's books but was almost put off reading this by the Foreward written by her daughter. Thought I'd seen or knew most of what she wrote but I didn't know the half of it - amazed at what a prolific writer she was and still found time to reply to her fan letters and support numerous charities.I read this book because one of my favorite books as a child was this book called The Family at Red Roofs.
She expected her daughter to help with household chores but gave her sons a lot more freedom, which Enid, who was not very domesticated, resented. I was intrigued to know whether her life experience was behind many of the stories she wrote and was amazed at the sheer volume of output she managed, sacrificing time with her own children to keep working and replying to the thousands of letters she received from children, parents and teachers. But even then, how much creative liberty can we take in a biography, a reconstruction a life, other's or self's?