The Gay Dolphin Adventure (by Malcolm Saville)

(Amazon UK link)

I’m so glad I decided to re-read the ‘Lone Pine’ series by Malcolm Saville. I knew I liked the books; I had forgotten how very enjoyable they are, and had not realised how much I would relish meeting old friends yet again in the covers of the books. ‘The Gay Dolphin Adventure’ is third in the series, and I hadn’t read it since 2008.

The first two books - ‘Mystery at Witchend’ and ‘Seven White Gates’ - featured the Morton family, Peter (Petronella) Sterling and Tom Ingles, with Jenny introduced in the second one. They are both set in Shropshire, near the Welsh border, whereas the third book is set in Rye, on the South coast of England. It is mainly about two more teenagers: Jon and Penny Warrender, who are cousins.

Jon is something of an intellectual, so different again from both David and Tom. Penny is warm-hearted and impetuous, though different in personality from Jenny. One of the best things about these books is the characterisation; each of the Lone Piners is their own person, bound to the others by ties of friendship, underpinned by integrity and courage, but with their own personalities and quirks.

The first half of the book sets the scene, bringing the town of Rye to life, and the ‘Gay Dolphin’ hotel - which, while imaginary, is based on a real-life hotel in Rye. Jon’s mother has inherited the ‘Gay Dolphin’, and hopes to make it profitable, but money is very tight. This book was written in 1945, and her husband died in the recent war. Penny’s parents work abroad so she lives with Jon and his mother.

There are rumours of a treasure, hidden by smugglers and belonging to the Warrender family. So Jon and Penny spend their first couple of days investigating some old documents; they find a map, and a letter with a clue which they manage to decipher. However, it’s not particularly helpful. And they quickly realise that there are other people also on the trail - people who are entirely lacking in integrity, and who will do anything that they think will serve their purposes.

The Morton family appear part-way through the book, with some light relief from the wonderful twins Dickie and Mary.  They quickly befriend Jon and Penny, and some exciting events follow, not all of them very pleasant. It’s all a bit far-fetched, perhaps; as an adult I can see the horrendous danger they were in, several times, but as a teenager I just thought it a bit tense and had to keep reminding myself that everything would turn out well. It is, after all, a children’s book, albeit intended for younger teenagers.

I like Malcolm Saville’s writing style very much, even if there are more exclamation marks than necessary, and quite a bit of introspection and description. My copy of ‘The Gay Dolphin Adventure’ is a hard-back which I was given from my grandmother’s collection when I was fourteen. It has been taped together and is still readable; eventually I may replace it with a ‘Girls Gone By’ edition, if they publish it again. Unfortunately the book is not currently in print, and second-hand versions are mostly the Armada abridged ones.

Highly recommended to older children or teens who like a family-oriented exciting adventure story, or to adults like myself who recall these books fondly from their own teenage years.

Review copyright 2020 Sue's Book Reviews