Is discretion a thing of the past?

“JANET! Why shouldn’t we have a Secret Society, too?’ said Peter.”

Peter and his sister Janet have the good fortune to find themselves in the middle of Enid Blyton’s first short story about The Secret Seven. They are virtually guaranteed many summers of adventures, following skulkers and solving mysteries before the cack-handed police arrive.

And, this being an Enid Blyton book, the children are also guaranteed to hold some odd views about race, class and gender. Let’s leave all that to one side with the classic Irish catch-all excuse that “ah they were different times” and acknowledge one thing about the Secret Seven: they could keep a secret.