The Secret Island is a children's novel by author Enid Blyton. It follows the story of three siblings named Mike, Peggy and Nora. Their parents had been lost for two years after their attempted to fly to Australia with a homemade plane, putting them into the hands of their Uncle Henry and Aunt Harriet, who made them work in their farm all day long and provided them with nothing but the most basic of needs. Later on, they befriended a local boy called Jack, who lived a similarly unhappy life with his grandpa on the opposite side of a nearby lake. But Jack's got a secret. He knows of an island in the middle of the lake where they can all escape and live happily. Together, they hatch a plan to escape and start a new life.
This novel contains examples of:
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Alternate Character Interpretation: Are their parents purely benevolent people who simply wanted to have fun, or are they greedy, egoistical glory hounds who spent lots of money building a plane for their own amusements while leaving little for their own struggling relatives? - Bad Cop/Incompetent Cop
- Big Brother Instinct: One of a few reasons Mike wanted to run away is because he wants his sister to get a good life rather then being servants of their aunt and uncle. Later Jack is also this, going to the mainland even after he almost got caught, just so his adoptive brother and sisters got a special Christmas presents
- Crazy-Prepared: The kids, (instructed by Jack) when evading the policemen that were searching for them at the island.
- Deus ex Machina: At the end of the book, out of nowhere, the children's parents (who had been missing for two years) turned out to have been rescued.
- Gadgeteer Genius: Plane. Homemade. Australia. Says a lot about their parents, doesn't it?
- Ghibli Hills: The island.
- Hawaiian-Shirted Tourist: A bunch of rather idiotically obnoxious ones had a picnic on the island, threatening to give away the children's location.
- Improbable Age: In a true Enid Blyton style.
- Parental Abandonment
- Team Mom: Peggy, who cooks for them, mends their clothes, and takes care of their little family.
- Treehouse of Fun: The Willow House.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: The obnoxious tourists that visited the island for a little while were scared away by bats.
- Wicked Stepmother: Actually an uncle and an aunt, but close enough.
