Three Cheers, Secret Seven
ISBN: 9780340917619
Description
When Peter and Jack go looking for their lost model aeroplane in an old abandoned house, they find a lit fire in one of the rooms. So who is living there, and why? Looks like the Secret Seven have another interesting case to solve.
Reviewed on 27th May 2023
For nostalgia reasons, I’m revisiting the Enid Blyton series that I read as a kid, and have now arrived at this entry.
Three Cheers is a great Seven story, seeing them randomly find a mystery and need to investigate it. It shows a level of social consciousness that’s not often present, and paints a picture (maybe unintentionally) of the class divide of the era.
However as a modern reader there’s a hugely clear level of sexism within the seven - the boys must do almost everything, and only one of the girls gets anything to really do as part of the plot, most of the time just being told to stay at home or otherwise being excluded. Weirdly though this doesn’t extend to the protagonist character Susie, who although the boys act towards with sexism, refuses to partake herself and demonstrates a lot of agency. It’s an odd contrast between the characters and I’m not really sure what it’s meant to be saying to the reader.
Overall though a very simple, quick tale, without any risk or danger.
