Phew. I've finally reached the end of my reading of the adult Famous Five book series. Five Forget Mother's Day is a respectful entry in the series, even if it's perhaps the most insular. Of note, is its attempt to give Aunt Fanny a voice and greater depth of character than the background cipher she is in the original series. Vincent does a good job of getting us to see her from various viewpoints including her own - neatly labelled Aunterior monologue - and how they can shift depending on context.Would I recommend this series overall? I'm honestly not sure. It certainly has its moments of amusement and I've enjoyed seeing the Five develop into plausible modern adults with moments of self reflection that would never have been found in Blyton's books. But by the end of book thirteen I feel I've had enough of the deliberately parochial nature of their newer adventures.
Verdict: The one with Aunt Fanny.
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