Alexander Larman

Sex and the Famous Five

Before drawing tenuous comparisons between Enid Blyton and David Bowie, Nicholas Royle invites us to consider the erotic potential of Timmy the dog

Julian, Dick, George, Anne and Timmy the dog on their way to Treasure Island in the first book of the Famous Five series [Alamy] 
issue 09 December 2023

  • David Bowie, Enid Blyton and the Sun Machine

    Nicholas Royle

    Manchester University Press, pp. 232, £15

Generations of readers of Enid Blyton’s Famous Five series have enjoyed the books without having to contemplate the erotic properties of the canine member of the quintet. After reading Nicholas Royle’s one-of-a-kind fantasia on Blyton and David Bowie, they may never be able to do so again. Royle writes confidently that ‘the most obvious route to thinking about sex in the Famous Five books is Timmy the dog’.

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