On the food choices of the Famous Five.
At the Guardian:
Blyton wrote 21 Famous Five books, the first, Five on a Treasure Island, was published in 1942. As Dr Joan Ransley, honorary lecturer in human nutrition at the University of Leeds, notes: "The food eaten in the books anchors the Famous Five to a definite period in dietary history. During and immediately after the second world war British children ate well but austerely and Blyton is true to this." In other words, they ate healthily but not heartily. Well over half of the books were written during food rationing. Perhaps Blyton is consciously enticing her readers with elaborate descriptions of foods way beyond the ration book allowance.
I'd like, very much, for someone (not me, because I'm lazy) to take a similar look at the food served up in the Nancy Drew books.
Thank you.