Imogen Pollock wrote a biography of her mother many years ago in which she described her as an irritable, cruel, and narcissistic woman. Her mother was Enid Blyton, the author of a prolific body of children's literature that, like millions of children around the world, turned me into a voracious reader.
I remember how saddened I was to realize that, once again, a person capable of creating a fantastical and seductive world could also have an abominable personality. As they say: it's better not to meet your heroes.
Later, I learned that Imogen's older sister, Gillian, did not share this view of a reclusive and unloving mother, which serves to confirm that the same situation can be experienced and remembered very differently by its protagonists.
While browsing the streaming platform catalogs, I stumbled upon the film Enid, which the BBC broadcast in 2009, starring Helena Bonham Carter, who excels in these types of roles. The film leans more towards the younger daughter's version than the older one's. It portrays an Enid Blyton traumatized by her father's childhood abandonment, seeking refuge in her fantasy world. The undisputed success of her novels (The Famous Five, Malory Towers, The Seven Secret Series, St. Clare's), famous worldwide, leads her to neglect the world of her real affections: Enid distances herself from her mother and siblings, from her husband, and finally, also from her daughters, whom she sends to a boarding school of the kind she depicted so well in her works.
For me, the best part of this biopic is the portrayal of the actress playing the younger daughter, with a permanent sadness, in contrast to the joy of the children applauding the adored writer. Enid Blyton appears friendly and charming to her readers, but she detests her own daughters.
In 2018, according to what I read, the British Mint considered issuing a commemorative coin for the fiftieth anniversary of Blyton's death. The initiative was canceled at the last moment because the author was deemed to be racist, sexist, and homophobic. I cannot deny... nor confirm it. My memory of the hours spent reading Enid Blyton is based solely on enjoyment and fun. Of course, that was many years ago, and perhaps my memory is failing.
I only know how difficult it is to write children's literature and get young children hooked on reading. Personally, I can only maintain my gratitude to this author, just as I am grateful to Ana María Matute (Paulina), Astrid Lindgren (Pippi), Sebastiá Sorribas (El zoo de Pitus), María Marcela Sánchez-Coquillat (Un castillo en el camino), Carmen Kurtz (the Óscar series) and the rest of the writers who stimulated my imagination and gave me the pleasure of reading, which has made my life more fun and better.
By the way, on Filmin you can see Conociendo a Astrid, the biopic of the creator of Pippi. In this case, the story told makes you love this fabulous writer even more.
