Five on Finniston Farm

The Famous Five #18

by Enid Blyton

There's a ruined castle on Finniston Farm, but only the dungeons remain - and nobody knows where they are! The Famous Five are determined to find them - and whatever is hidden in them - but they are not alone. Someone else wants to know, too. The question is: can the Five get there first?

Genres: Childrens, Adventure, Fiction, Mystery, Classics, Young Adult, Middle Grade

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1960

About the author

See also:
Ένιντ Μπλάιτον (Greek)
Enida Blaitona (Latvian)
Энид Блайтон (Russian)
Inid Blajton (Serbian)
Інід Блайтон (Ukrainian)

Enid Mary Blyton (1897–1968) was an English author of children's books.

Born in South London, Blyton was the eldest of three children, and showed an early interest in music and reading. She was educated at St. Christopher's School, Beckenham, and - having decided not to pursue her music - at Ipswich High School, where she trained as a kindergarten teacher. She taught for five years before her 1924 marriage to editor Hugh Pollock, with whom she had two daughters. This marriage ended in divorce, and Blyton remarried in 1943, to surgeon Kenneth Fraser Darrell Waters. She died in 1968, one year after her second husband.

Blyton was a prolific author of children's books, who penned an estimated 800 books over about 40 years. Her stories were often either children's adventure and mystery stories, or fantasies involving magic. Notable series include: The Famous Five, The Secret Seven, The Five Find-Outers, Noddy, The Wishing Chair, Mallory Towers, and St. Clare's.

According to the Index Translationum, Blyton was the fifth most popular author in the world in 2007, coming after Lenin but ahead of Shakespeare.

See also her pen name Mary Pollock

Reviews

[Mark Lawrence · Rating 3 out of 5]

By book 18 Blyton is revisiting various themes and motifs. In fact you could probably construct this story fairly well using chunks from the other books.

We have yet another girl-who-dresses-as-a-boy to rival/challenge George's early transgender leanings.

We have more twins.

++In a sign of the times we learn that Harry (Harriett) has cut her hair short to mimic twin Harry (Henry) because it would be crazy for Harry to have long hair instead. It seems that the 30s & 40s were rather tolerant of girls wanting to be boys, and wholly against boys wanting to be girls...++

We have more homespun archaeology of the sort that the TV series Time Team thoroughly undermined. Anyone who has seen various barely identifiable relics pried from the mud in actual archaeological digs will find it hard not to roll their eyes at Blyton's hidden tunnels and pristine swords.

We have an extra dog for Timmy and a tame bird (a jackdaw for finding clues) both of which have featured before.

We have more farmhouse cuisine with salads fit for kings and ripe plums (presumably considered a delicacy since they were a succulent fruit that grew in the UK at a time when imports were rare and oranges were for Christmas).

We have objectionable Americans, brash and overly rich, set on buying up our history without any appreciation for it. If you look a little harder at Blyton's hate-on for Americans, even the specific one who stands in for "baddy" in this book it seems hard to find anything actually unreasonable there. The American's crime really boils down to having money and offering it to a farmer in need of money, in free exchange for things that farmer owns...

Anyway, the five befriend the twins, freeze out and then persecute the American boy, and finally spend all of an afternoon uncovering the hidden underground portion of the castle that is known to lie on the farm grounds but that nobody has ever found.

And once inside the miraculously preserved Norman chambers that have stood there for nearly a thousand years, they find unrusted arms and suits of armour (they sound like plate mail, but I am pretty sure the Normans wore chain mail and that if this really was kept, and left, underground then it would now be a brownish stain in the layered soil that had long ago filled the void. And of course there are gold coins and jewels.

One thing that interests me in these books is the finances. I have the strong impression that at some point the prices of goods and the sums offered on various occasions, have been updated to avoid the purchase of a new tractor for £20 of 1950s cash. But that the editions I have are now so old that the updated sums are also nonsense, sitting in a twilight world applicable neither to the original book nor the time in which it is now read. I feel they should have left the money untouched, even if it means flicking a sixpence at the children and telling them to buy lunch for them all then bring back the change.

Anyway, another installment in the saga of the un-aging five and their bucolic adventures before the day finally comes when they finally do grow up and fall into their upper middle class lives of privilege.

Celyn seemed to enjoy it well enough.


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[Kavita · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmmm, it wasn't even a mystery. No danger, no crooks, no fun. Also, I didn't enjoy the side characters.

[Thomas Stroemquist · Rating 2 out of 5]

The "Famous Five" books gets the "It was OK" rating due to that they were among the books that made me a reader in the first place. They were soon replaced by Alistair MacLean and the Bond-novels, but did provide a stepping stone. I remember this being my favorite cover, but that I found the story a bit uneventful.

[Summer · Rating 4 out of 5]

These books (Famous five) are hands down one of my favorite books from my childhood. All those adventures and mystery …and those sandwiches they always packed! aww, just the best! I would love to read one of these again. To bring back those memories..memories of first experiences with reading books.

[Kirsti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another in the excellent 'Five' series by the legendary Enid Blyton. Number 18 in the set sees George, Anne, Dick, Julian and Timmy off to stay at Finniston farm, a farm that is struggling with money and has had to take in borders. The children help all they can, but they are baulked by Junior and his Pops, Americans who are intent on snapping up items of historical significance to take back to America.

While this book has less action in it than others, it is still an exciting, quick read. We get to see the generosity of the children, in helping the family, especially the overworked mother. We get exciting and historical discoveries down in the tunnels, and a nice bit of detective work. we also get to see them befriend the twins, who do not like strangers and wish to help their mother also.

I love 'old grandad' in this story, and his holding onto the past. Perhaps that is what I do when I pick up one of Enid's books, this one a well loved dog eared copy. But Grandad is proven right, that hostory can help those in the present, and that is another reason I so love these books. They are a piece of my history, and the history of those who owned and loved them before me as every one of them came to me second hand.

Another great Enid Blyton book; Parents, get your kids reading them to remember a simpler time, and possibly get them hungry for dinner. I salivate every time I read about those darn macaroons at the bakery, and I've never even eaten one!

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

She's back on track with this one. I enjoyed it. I wanted to slap Juniorhe annoyed me so much. Still not as good as the very early ones but a good read all the same.

[Kitty G Books · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one was pretty anti-Americans and some of the voice acting is awful, but the adventure is quite fun if you can get past those two things. The five go to stay on a farm where they meet the twins and a young American boy called Junior. Junior is a brat and the five dislike the American and his father instantly as it turns out they are here trying to buy the farmland and to claim any leftover treasure from the ruin which is on the land.
Naturally the five can't stay out of anything and they end up trying to uncover what treasures there are around, and they also recruit the twins into their adventure.
2*s

[Sassa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel kind of silly giving “The Famous Five” a five star rating but this children’s book edition, “Five on Finniston Farm” was a breath of fresh air during this time of troubles and books of angst.
It held me in suspense, it was fun and I did learn a few historical facts. There are ACTUAL rabbit holes in this book.
This has been my favorite of the whole series.
(Just as a note, the writing does seem a little different than the earlier ones in the series.)

[Sharni · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know I’ve read them all - but this one felt unfamiliar to me! Fairly standard outing - a holiday at a Dorset farm leads to the 5 discovering a long lost (it burned down 700 years prior) castle and the treasures in its cellars... hands down favourite scene was Dick just casually buying a whole plate of 20+ macaroons. And icecreams. What a legend.

[Irma *Irma The Book Whisperer* · Rating 3 out of 5]

...reading with my 10 year old daughter...

The plot was fantastic, the ending felt a little too soft.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Blyton's dislike of American's is quite apparent. Get the feeling she highly disapproved of an American accent, especially the word 'wonderful'. (This anti-Ameicanness doesn't just appear in the Famous Five books either.)

This story was as mad as many of the others. It parts a little too much like them. It's the 18th book so highly possibly Blyton was losing interest and just recycling ideas that had been a hit in the series so far. I suspect children don't care about this - it's still an adventure and there are tunnels, dungeons and treasure.

I was a little taken aback by the level of bullying behaviour by the Five that was written in as totally acceptable (pouring boiling coffee on a boy - justified for being over-entitled, not getting up till nine and being Ameican).

Other (hair-related) bits I didn't get was when Dick made a comment about Anne having a ponytail - were ponytails vulgar in the 50s?! Along with why (in the 50s) short hair on girls seems to be widely accepted but boys having long hair was considered to be an impossibility.

[Sunshine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Diet Famous Five anyone? Famous Five Zero? No?

Not quite the same tempo as her other books, I think the middle must have fallen out. The famous five are on some weird diet in this one too, not the usual gargantuan stuffing of faces. Sarah Green reads brilliantly but it's Jan Francis who has the voices the same as they are in my head when it comes to audio versions. A small beige chunk of Famous Five fun but it Finniston a high note!

[Carmen Casanova · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first book on famous five!! Oh, wait... might be my first long-page book i read :)

[Ambar Pertiwi · Rating 3 out of 5]

seru juga ya kalo masih bisa liat harta2 peninggalan abad 12 di Puri Finniston. tadi ada baju zirah, trus pedang juga. jadi kebayang drama2 abad pertengahan gitu. :D


P.S. : disini Enid Blyton kayaknya ada sentimen sama orang Amerika yaa. Hmm 🤔

[Kamons · Rating 4 out of 5]

เรื่องราวผจญภัยแบบเดิม แต่ครั้งนี้ง่าย ไม่ซับซ้อน ห้าสหายไม่มีใครน่ารำคาญ

[Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed this one. Yes, not a whole lot happens compared to other Famous Five books, we're about halfway in when it is announced that it the start of the adventure. Yes, themes are recycled from other books, but actually I liked this one. Farmhouse tea's aplenty with thick cut bread and butter and cheese and boiled eggs and plums and cake, macaroons and ices and ginger beer. Yes to all!

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always enjoyable, another fun adventure with the five.

[Christos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Οκ το είδα στο βιβλιοπωλείο και απλά το πήρα για τη νοσταλγία, επειδή τα διάβαζα όταν ήμουν μικρός.
Προφανώς δεν αντέχει σε σοβαρή κριτική αλλά μου άρεσε γιατί μου θύμησε όταν ήμουν 10 χρόνων...

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good mystery, as always!!!

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Of this series, I've read and reviewed Five on a Treasure Island, Five Go Adventuring Again, Five Run Away Together, Five Go to Smuggler's Top, Five Go Off in a Caravan, Five on Kirrin Island Again, Five Go Off to Camp, Five Get Into Trouble, Five Fall Into Adventure, Five Have a Wonderful Time, Five Go Down to the Sea, Five on a Hike Together, Five Go to Mystery Moor, Five on a Secret Trail, Five Have Plenty of Fun and Five Go to Billycock Hill)

Aw shucks, Pop! Gee! Wunnerful! Skip it, sister!

A bit of an odd one to rate - it's got all the Five tropes, and the action flows fairly well which made it enjoyable, but it stops mid-adventure which was a pity. It would've been one of my favourites had it been given more room to stretch (and written for a slightly older audience).

The conflict is along the same lines as the first book, although a little more explored as we get to meet these antagonists. I'd have liked to have seen Mr Henning and his advisor put up more of a fight; even though they're the designated baddies, they're not criminals and were obviously prepared to pay big money to the farm. Underhanded, sure, but not illegal - and the valid point is made that any treasure trove would belong to the Crown anyhow, who would pay the Philpotts a cash reward. Mr Henning also ends up sick of Grandad's shitty attitude and snaps back in anger, and even though this is meant to be some 'big reveal' of his antagonism and we're meant to side with the old bloke, I honestly can't blame the guy for losing his temper.

For a book focusing on history, it has also aged terribly; the Hennings shouldn't buy and take things to America because they're stealing our heritage! and couldn't possibly understand! but Britain has a long and bloody history of doing this plus far worse. Just look at our museums, for God's sake.

We have three guest kids - double-act twins The Harries (one is a girl with short hair - George is unbothered and nowt more is said about it, which was refreshing) who put on a Shining act to put off the Five, but quickly defrost when they realise our heroes aren't scared of a bit of manual labour. On the other hand, we have Junior, the rich, restless and rude son of Mr Henning. You won't forget he and his dad are from across the pond, because not only does kiddo have a terrible 50s-sitcom accent the Beaver would have been proud of, the others refer to the duo as 'the Americans' nigh-on constantly. I found 'old Great Grandad' and his constant shouting and harrumphing more annoying than anything Junior does, but I'm in the minority there - and it is nice to have a colourful cast of side-characters with a bit of fire in them.

There's also plenty of moments to raise a smile. Dick clears out a local bakery (entire platefuls of macaroons and a load of ice-cream, what a lad), the jackdaw Nosey winds up both the kids and dogs, Grandad goes full-on mad Gandalf at the end, and George cheerfully causes chaos for Junior the morning after they meet him. Immature and uncalled for? Yes. Still funny? Yes.

If you look past the obvious datedness and problematic elements - something you'll always need to do with Blyton - it's an amusing read and the series still keeps kids entertained to this day. I've not got long left with the Five, but I'll really miss the daft poshos when I finish up.

3.5/5 (Goodreads 3).

[EmiliAna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Die Ferien haben begonnen und die fünf Freunde machen sich bereit für ein neues Abenteuer! Diesmal haben sie sich in "Finniston Farm", die im Deutschen in der frühen Übersetzung, die leider gerne darauf beharrt, Orts- und Personennamen nach Gutdünken und, wie mir scheinen will, recht willkürlich zu ändern, "Funstein-Hof" heißt, einquartiert, voller Neugierde, über welche Geheimnisse sie wohl diesmal wieder stolpern werden - übrigens sehr zu Annes Missfallen, die es gerne ruhig und beschaulich hat und nicht schon wieder in Gefahr geraten möchte. Ganz im Gegensatz zu ihren beiden Brüdern, Julius und Richard, die im englischen Original gemeinhin als Julian und Dick bekannt sind und der eigenwilligen und oft starrköpfigen und abweisenden Cousine Georgina, die auf dem Namen George insistiert, möchte sie doch nicht als Mädchen identifiziert werden. Zu den vier Kindern gehört natürlich noch Tim oder Timmy oder Timotheus, Georges lebhafter Mischlingshund, der seinem launischen Frauchen treu ergeben ist.
Und kaum sind sie auf Finniston-Farm/Funstein-Hof angekommen, dürfen sie hoffen, dass auch diesmal ihre Erwartungen auf zünftige Ferien erfüllt werden!
Doch müssen sie zuerst einmal versuchen, sich mit den mürrischen und schweigsamen Zwillingen Harriet und Harry, kurz "die zwei Harrys" genannt, anzufreunden, was keine leichte Sache ist, den vier Kindern mit ihrer Offenheit und Hilfsbereitschaft aber sehr bald gelingt, denn im Gegensatz zu den beiden anderen Feriengästen, einem Amerikaner mit seinem verzogenen Sohn Junior, die sich von hinten bis vorne bedienen lassen und deren Manieren noch dazu sehr zu wünschen übrig lassen, packen Julius, Richard, Anne und George überall fröhlich und ganz selbstverständlich mit an und sind sehr bald keine zahlenden Urlauber mehr sondern vielmehr gern gesehene Gäste.
Schnell bekommen die fünf Freunde denn auch eine Ahnung, dass die Ferien nicht nur arbeitsam, sondern auch aufregend zu werden versprechen.
Herr Finniston/Funstein, der im Ort einen Antiquitätenladen besitzt und dessen Vorfahren einmal die Besitzer von Finniston-Farm waren, weiß Spannendes zu erzählen! Von einer normannischen Burg berichtet er, die 1192 gestürmt und niedergebrannt wurde und deren Herrin es gelang, sich mit ihren Kindern zu retten, indem sie von ihrem Verlies über einen unterirdischen Gang in eine noch heute existierende Kapelle fliehen konnte, die seit langem schon als Lagerraum für Getreide verwendet wird.
Der Antiquitätenhändler vermutet, genauso wie der Urgroßvater der beiden Harrys, in dem Verlies, das nie entdeckt wurde, einen wertvollen Schatz!
Die Neugierde der Kinder ist geweckt und sie beschließen, auf eigene Faust nach dem Verlies zu suchen, einmal aus Abenteuerlust, zum anderen aber auch, um den Eltern der Harrys damit aus ihren finanziellen Nöten zu helfen, die sie zwingen, solch unangenehme Feriengäste wie die Hennings aufnehmen zu müssen. Doch letztere sind eigens zu diesem Zweck nach England gereist, sie sind fest entschlossen, so billig wie möglich an wertvolle Antiquitäten zu kommen, und die Gerüchte über den Schatz im seit fast tausend Jahren verschollenen Verlies lassen sie aufmerken und alles in Bewegung setzen, den Schatz in ihre gierigen Hände zu bekommen. Aber noch ist nicht aller Tage Abend, denn sie haben nicht mit dem Einfallsreichtum und der Entschlossenheit der fünf Freunde gerechnet...

Bis auf die leidige Tendenz zur Namensänderung ist der von der englischen Kinder- und Jugendbuchschriftstellerin Enid Blyton verfasste achtzehnte Band ihrer "Fünf Freunde"- Reihe, erstveröffentlicht in England im Jahre 1960 und in Deutschland fünf Jahre später, ein Abenteuer, an dem die vielen Freunde dieser Serie in Deutschland genauso wie Millionen Anhänger auf der ganzen Welt ihre Freude haben und auf ihre Kosten kommen.
Und obwohl der Autorin vielfach vorgeworfen wurde, sich einer anspruchslosen Sprache mit eingeschränkter Wortwahl und zu vieler Stereotypen zu bedienen, kann ich das weder in der deutschen Ausgabe noch in der parallel dazu gelesenen englischen Originalfassung finden! Die Sprache ist im Gegenteil durchaus ausgefeilt und in jedem Falle perfekt zugeschnitten auf die entsprechende Lesergruppe, die ich von 8 bis 14 Jahren einstufen möchte. Die freut sich nämlich vor allem darüber, ihre aus vielen Vorgängerbänden, aus Filmen und Hörspielen bekannten und vertrauten Freunde wiederzutreffen und festzustellen, dass es unverändert die alten sind: Richard/Dick der Spaßvogel, der mit seinen unkonventionellen Ideen und seiner Kontaktfreudigkeit den Freunden schon manchmal aus der Patsche geholfen hat, Julius/Julian, der immer den Überblick behält und der vernünftige Denker der Gruppe ist, die hausfrauliche und zögerliche Anne, die aber, wenn es darauf ankommt, alle mit ihrem Mut immer wieder in Erstaunen setzt, und zu guter Letzt die unberechenbare, schnell beleidigte George nebst Tim, die aber trotzt all ihrer Überempfindlichkeiten ein feiner Kamerad ist.
Und wenn sich die Abenteuer der fünf Freunde auch nie sehr voneinander unterscheiden und gewiss stets nach mehr oder weniger dem gleichen Schema ablaufen, so sind sie doch allemal spannend. Und welches Kind möchte nicht wenigstens für kurze Zeit gemeinsam mit George, Julius, Richard, Anne und Timmy, so herrlich frei von den Erwachsenen und oft sich selbst überlassen, auf Verbrecherjagd gehen oder einem Rätsel nachspüren - vor allem, wenn es, wie hier, um Geheimnisse aus der Vergangenheit geht und um Ritterburgen, Verliese und Schätze?
Enid Blytons Rechnung ist auch in Band 18 aufgegangen - und die Erwartungen der jungen Leser sind in jeder Hinsicht erfüllt worden!

[Vinay Leo · Rating 4 out of 5]

First time I’m rereading The Famous Five series. Some series are as beautiful to read as adults as they were in childhood. This series does fall into that category.

The series makes me wonder if there is so much treasure hidden across England. So many FF books have treasure involved in some way. Might be good to go treasure hunting if it were. The book showed how people can be greedy and would try to trick honest people to achieve their ends. But glad it did not end that way.

[Queen YXL · Rating 5 out of 5]

The famous five are thrilled to learn about the castle that once stood on the site of Finniston farm.The castle burnt down years ago, but what about the dungeons and cellars underneath?
The five go to the farm to find the ruins and hidden treasures there,but someone else is trying to beat them and get the treasure first?! "The treasure belongs to the Finniston farm!"

HOPE YOU ENJYED MY REVIEW ♡
- Queen Yxl

[Gabriel · Rating 5 out of 5]

The one that started it all. The first book I read of the series, found in my father's library when I was 9. The book that I read more times over than any other in my life so far (between 15 and 20, by my calculations). Simply superb.

My version is a Spanish translation by Editorial Juventud.

[Maï · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comme j'avais plus rien a lire, je suis retournée dans l'enfance. Le club des 5 c vrm trop la base !
Bon là j'ai trouvé que la fin était trop vite que ça manque de développement.
Mais commr à chaque fois l'aventure est magnifique.

[Anne Marshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one with the two Harries and Snippet the dog as well.

[Whitney Hallam · Rating 5 out of 5]

cooooooool for anyone.

[Jake Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was always one of my favourite Fives, although I'm not really sure why. The castle, the chapel, the treasure and Old Great-Granddad must all feature somewhere in the reason.

[Linneanorrlen1 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Den är lättläst men ändå bra! Jag läser oftast svårare böcker men jag hade förmodligen älskat denna när jag var mindre!

[Fay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd definitely want Grandad on my side, especially with that sword!