In the fifth at Malory Towers (by Enid Blyton)

(Amazon UK link)

I’m a bit surprised to find that it must be at least thirty years since I last read Enid Blyton’s ‘In the fifth at Malory Towers’. The six-book series was my favourite as a teenager; apparently I read it three times in the 1970s, and I’m sure I must have read it at least once or twice as an adult… but I had not remembered most of the details. 

This book takes place in the term immediately after the previous book, ‘Upper fourth at Malory Towers’, which I reread last month. Darrell and her friends have passed the School Certificate (a kind of precursor of GCSEs) and have moved up to the fifth form. Alicia and Gwendoline did not pass the exam, but Alicia was ill and Gwendoline was faking illness, and both are now too old to stay in the fourth form. 

Darrell’s younger sister Felicity is in her second term, still in the first form, and is passionate about lacrosse. Darrell is delighted to be put in charge of sports for the younger girls, but worries that she’s showing favouritism if she puts Felicity in one of the teams.

New to the story are Moira and Catherine who are not old enough to move into the sixth form yet, and Maureen whose former school has closed. It’s not clear why she is the only girl to come from that school. She makes herself unpopular from the start by trying to exaggerate her talents, and talk endlessly about how much she loved her old school. She decides to befriend Gwendoline, who is shocked to learn how similar they are…

Moira is a good leader, but does not have great people skills. She tends to be overpowering and bossy, and expects people to do as they’re told. This does not endear her to younger girls in the school, and annoys her classmates. When they’re told they can put on a performance at the end of term, Moira appoints herself head of the committee, and producer. 

Catherine is a caricature of an over-helpful, rather obsequious person who always offers to do any little task that’s going, and wants to find the best in everyone, no matter the circumstances. They’re not bad traits in themselves, but Catherine overdoes it. It’s not clear why none of her previous classmates managed to persuade her to be less saintlike and more human.

These books are character-driven, primarily, although there are several subplots involving school-related issues. The one part I had remembered was that the fifth formers decide to put on a pantomime - they have several talented people who can deal with music, set design, costumes and so on, and Darrell undertakes to write the script. I hadn’t remembered how this all pans out, or that Moira causes some stress by being so domineering. I thought it was well-handled, however, and liked the way that Moira isn’t portrayed as unbearable - she has a good heart under her pushy exterior. 

I hadn’t remembered anything about the lacrosse games mentioned; sports have little interest for me, so I was quite surprised to find one of the scenes oddly moving. Neither had I remembered about the ‘trick’ played by some of the first formers, or that Mam’zelle decides that perhaps she will play a ‘treek’.  

And there’s more… some light-hearted dialogue, quite a poignant ending, and a gradual maturity in most of the fifth formers, as compared to the previous years. While some of the girls’ traits are exaggerated, the author still shows a sympathetic understanding of many types of personality. Nobody is perfect. Despite the fact that this book was first published 75 years ago, the people remain - mostly - believable. 

For instance, Darrell, who is the main character in all the books, has a very hot temper. It’s not displayed in this one, though she gets close to losing it more than once. Alicia, who can be quite hard and unfeeling, is unfailingly honest and courageous. Irene and Belinda, the form’s musical and artistic geniuses, are absent-minded in the extreme.

It’s easy-reading, of course; originally intended for girls between the ages of about nine and twelve. My book has only 150 pages, and I read it in a couple of hours. It’s not the greatest of writing, and there are some minor annoyances, when people tell each other details that they all know perfectly well, for the sake of readers who might not know. But while this might irritate me if I came across the book for the first time, I like the characters and the stories so much - when I want something lightweight - that I skip over this kind of thing. 

Adults like me who recall these books fondly from our childhood are probably the main readers of Malory Towers books nowadays. But they have remained almost constantly in print, and I love the fact that some of today’s children enjoy them too. They’re popular in audio book format, too. 

Review copyright 2026 Sue's Book Reviews