Five Run Away Together (The Famous Five #3) by Enid Blyton

Hey ForeverBookers,

I’ve just finished “Five Run Away Together,” The Famous Five #3 by Enid Blyton and I LOVED it! I read “Five Go Adventuring Again,” the second novel in the series, which I loved this sort of time last year. I certainly don’t regret reading this, either! It was quick and easy, even making notes, probably because it’s intended for a younger audience, but it was soooooooo fun too!

5 stars!

In “Five Run Away Together” we see our four protagonists, George, Julian, Dick and Anne and their but more George’s dog, Timmy go on an adventure of escape when Aunt Francis, George’s mother gets ill and has to go away to what we assume is a hospital with Uncle Quentin. This, of course leaves the children alone, or so they wish! This series is set in the 1940’s/1950’s so back then children had to be looked after. This of course means that Fanny and Quentin need a housekeeper. Joanna, the old housekeeper/cook left, so Mrs Stick comes to work in her stead. She brings her son, Edgar and their dog, Tinker that the children refer to as Stinker. The children don’t want a new housekeeper, especially Mrs Stick. The Sticks are the antagonists of the story. The text of “Five Run Away Together” is quite dense in places. This didn’t put me off as it’s written in the 1940’s, so I expected it!

I read Five Run Away Together for a few readathons. They were:

Reading Rivalry - Northern Attitude - I consider this to be something not very nice and the Sticks are this in the book!

Always Fully Booked Reading Challenge - A book with a number in the title - Five Run Away Together is the title. The Five are Julian, Dick, Anne, George and Timmy the dog. 

Always Fully Booked - On The Cover Challenge - An Airplane or a boat - There’s a boat on the cover of the edition of “Five Run Away Together” that I read.

Always Fully Booked - Reading the Rainbow Challenge - Pastel - the cover of my edition is a light pastel blue!

Always Fully Booked - Genre Reading Challenge - Classics - “The Famous Five” series is classically written!

Always Fully Booked - Read Through The Ages Challenge - 1930’s-1940’s - “Five Run Away Together” was written in 1944 so I’d have thought that’s around when it’s set too.

Spoilers Below

“It was exciting, remembering all the things that had happened last year. It made George long all the more for the next day, when her three friends would arrive.”

George is excited to meet with her cousins again. They’ve had previous adventures. One on Kirrin Island, George’s island that she’s given to all of the children to share with herself, and one with a teacher, Mr Roland, that was after secrets from her Uncle’s scientific work. This adventure starts with Aunt Fanny being ill, as I said above. The children hate living under the rule of Mrs Stick, who loves her son but hates the other children. 

“…and Mrs Stick appeared at the kitchen door, a saucepan in her hand.

“Call off that dog!” she screeched. She hit out at Timothy with the saucepan, but he dodged and it hit her own dog instead, making it yelp all the more.

“Don’t hit out with that!” said Julian. “You’ll hurt the dogs. Hi, Timmy, TIMMY!”

Edgar now appeared, looking very scared. He picked up a stone and seemed to be watching his chance to hurl it at Timmy. Anne shrieked.

“You’re not to throw that stone; you’re not to! You bad wicked boy!”

In the middle of all this turmoil Uncle Quentin appeared, looking angry and irritable.

“Good heavens! What is all this going on? I never heard such a row in my life.”

Then George appeared, flying out of the door like the wind, to rescue her beloved Timothy. She rushed to the two dogs and tried to pull Timmy away. Her father yelled at her.

“Come away, you little idiot! Don’t you know better than to separate two fighting dogs with your bare hands? Where’s the garden hose?”

It was fixed to a tap nearby. Julian ran to it and turned on the tap. He picked up the hose and turned it on the two dogs. At once the jet of water spurted out at them, and they leapt apart in surprise. Julian saw Edgar standing near, and couldn’t resist swinging the hose a little so that the boy was soaked. He gave a scream and ran in at once.

“What did you do that for?” said Uncle Quentin, annoyed.

“George, tie Timothy up at once. Mrs Stick, didn’t I tell you not to let your dog out of the kitchen unless you had him on a lead. I won’t have this kind of thing happening. Where’s the breakfast? Late as usual!”

Mrs Stick disappeared into the kitchen, muttering and grumbling, taking her drenched dog with her.” This is the first moment of anger we see from Mrs Stick but at only 12 pages in she doesn’t get any better or nicer throughout the story. She’s trying to control the situation between Timmy, George’s dog and Tinker, her dog. Of course, she thinks her dog can do no wrong and that Timmy’s to blame! Quentin comes out to complain at the commotion, and to tell George to tie Timmy up and Mrs Stick to not let Tinker out without a lead. Quentin is still very much the strict father to George.

About half way through the story, when the children are alone with Mrs Stick and Edgar they have no choice they don’t think but to leave Kirrin Cottage and go to Kirrin Island, away from the Sticks. Before this, when Aunt Fanny and Quentin are still at home, the children meet Mr Stick, who is just as mean and blunt as Mrs Stick.

“Julian said nothing but sidled towards what he hoped was the door. The man leapt up and lurched over to where he thought the light switch was. He found it and switched it on. He stared in the greatest astonishment at Julian.

“What are you doing here?” he demanded.

“Just what I was about to ask you,” said Julian, coolly. “What do you think you’re doing here, sleeping in my uncle’s kitchen?”

“I’ve a right to be here,” said the man, in a rude voice. “My wife’s cook here, isn’t she? My ship’s in and I’m on leave. Your uncle arranged with my wife I could come here then, see?”

Julian had feared as much. How awful to have a Mr Stick as well as a Mrs and Master Stick in the house! It would be quite unbearable.”

Julian has as much of a role to play in Five Run Away Together as George, I believe. He hates the Sticks as much as George, too. Dick and Anne don’t have as much of a role to play, I don’t think. Julian wants to know who the strange man is staying in Uncle Quentin’s house! When he reveals he is indeed, Mr Stick, Mrs Stick’s husband, Julian thinks that it will be an “unbearable” summer. That is, until, as I said above, the children consider their options and think that it’s a better idea to leave Kirrin Cottage and head to their island, Kirrin island.

“We’ll take all the rugs we can find,” said Julian. “And some cushions for pillows. I say, isn’t this simply thrilling. I don’t know when I’ve felt so excited. I feel like a prisoner escaping to freedom! Won’t the Sticks be amazed when they find us gone!”

“Yes, we’ll have to decide what to say to them,” said George, rather soberly. “We don’t want them sending people after us to the island, making us come back. I don’t think they should know we’ve gone there.”

“We’ll discuss that later,” said Dick. “The thing is to get everything to the boat while it’s dark. It will soon be dawn.”

“How are we going to get all this down to George’s boat?” said Anne, looking at the enormous pile of goods by the light of her torch. “We’ll never be able to carry them all.”

Certainly it looked a great pile. Julian had an idea, as usual. “Are there any barrows in the shed?” he asked George. “If we could pile the things into a couple of barrows, we could easily take everything in one journey. We could wheel the barrows along on the sandy side of the road so that we don’t make any noise.”

“Oh, good idea!” said George, delighted. “I wish I’d thought of that before. I had to Make about five journeys to and from the boat when I took my own things. There are two barrows in the shed. We’ll get them. One has a squeaky wheel, but we’ll hope no one hears it.”

Stinker heard the squeak, as he lay in a corner of Mrs Stick’s room.”

The children plan their escape from Kirrin Cottage and the Sticks in the middle of the night. Julian is very excited about this adventure. This book develops his character the most of our main protagonists, I believe. Tinker or Stinker, the Stick’s dog, as the children refer to him hears the squeak from one of the wheels on the wheelbarrow that the children use to carry their things to George’s boat. Do their plans get derailed slightly? You’ll need to read to find out for yourself?

When they’re on Kirrin Island, the children set up camp. Anne is very much the mother-hen of the group, looking after everyone and keeping things neat and tidy.

“George and I and Tim will have the one on this side,” she thought, busy putting down the heather into a shape of a bed. “And Julian and Dick can have the other side. I shall want lots more heather. Oh, is that you, Dick? You’re just in time! I want more heather.”

Soon the beds were made beautifully, and each had an old rug for an under blanket, and two better rugs for covers. Cushions made pillows.

“What a pity we didn’t bring night-things,” thought Anne. “I could have folded them neatly and put them under the cushions. There! It all looks lovely. We’ve got a beautiful house.”

Julian came sliding down the rope from the cliff to the cave. He looked around admiringly. “My word, Anne — the cave does look fine! Everything in order and looking so tidy. You are a good little girl.”

Anne was pleased to hear Julian’s praise, though she didn’t like him calling her a little girl.

“Yes, it does look nice, doesn’t it?” she said. “But why aren’t you watching up on the cliff, Ju?”

“It’s Dick’s turn now,” said Julian.”

When the children find a cave to make their home Anne, the mother-hen looks after everyone. She’s the youngest child but that doesn’t make her any less ready to stand up for what she believes in. She’s ready to do any menial task as most women were in the 40’s, when Five Run Away Together was written. She has some gumption in that she’ll stand up for what she believes is right, though. 

“I’m not,” said Anne, indignantly. “I’m as strong as you are. I can’t help being younger.”

“Hush, hush, baby!” said Julian, patting his little sister on the back and laughing at her furious face.” Julian will always consider Anne as his baby sister, no matter how much she stands up for herself. I found this cute! All Anne wants is to be considered as strong as George! Does she get her wish? You’ll have to read to find out!

The only one of our main four characters that doesn’t get much development in “Five Run Away Together” is Dick, I feel. He barely gets any page time. Anne doesn’t get much as I said above, but we don’t really know Dick as a character like we do the others. All we get is something I’ll come onto below, the animal noises. I’ve watched the 90’s TV show so I know that Dick is just as fearless as Julian, maybe more so but from reading the books, I don’t believe you would know that at this point in the series. I wonder if Five Go To Smugglers Top will develop his character more? I hope so, as I believe it’s his friend they go to Smugglers Top to see, Pierre.

There are a lots of twists and turns in this short book. I really enjoyed them. No romance, but that’s fine as long as there is a good/strong plot which there definitely was for me. One twist is that the children don’t know WHY the Sticks have turned up to their island. When they learn that they’ve smuggled a girl, Jennifer, onto the island they’re furious and they want to, of course save Jennifer. Are they able to? You’ll have to read for yourself. Also they, capture Edgar to trade with Jennifer. This was funny, I thought! I thought Edgar was funny throughout, actually. Always mischievous and getting himself and the other children into trouble.

There were humorous parts as well as serious parts that I loved too. For example, when the children play a trick on Edgar. Julian, Dick and George start making animal noises to try and scare him off. “I’m scared,” said Edgar. “I’m not staying up here alone.”

“Why not?” said Mr Stick, astonished.

“It’s those cows again!” said poor Edgar. “Hundreds of them, Pa, all a-mooing round me, and throwing things at me. They’re dangerous animals, they are, and I’m not coming up here alone!” Edgar is panicked by the noises that Dick especially makes. This was a laugh out loud moment in the book. Earlier on in the book, Julian, Dick, and George scare Edgar and Mrs Stick by making animal noises, so they know it works! I loved reading this as it was really funny! In the TV show I can remember this too.

Overall, then I really enjoyed reading “Five Run Away Together.” It kept me on the edge of my seat plot wise because I couldn’t remember everything that happened from the TV show. This made it fun and exciting. I’m really, really excited to read the next book, “Five Go To Smugglers Top” next, as that is my favourite episode of the show. I believe “Five Run Away Together” was my second favourite when I was younger. It’s also fun comparing the novel to the show and noting the differences. That’s why I’m giving Five Run Away Together 5 Stars!

Next I’m going to read a quick, sexy Christmas novella, I think as it’s Christmas time! I won’t review it in depth, I don’t think, because it’s my birthday in a week so I won’t have time. You’ll probably next hear from me again in the New Year, so Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year! I hope 2025 brings good things to everyone!