In February 2006 Kidz Books published an interesting article by Mason Willey on The Pseudonyms of Enid Blyton. One name which Mason suggested as a potential pseudonym was Margaret Kent, author of a number of titles which sound familiar to fans of Enid Blyton, for example "The Twins at the Seaside" or "Summer at Cherry Tree Farm".
Today, Kidz Books received an email from Nick Courvoisier who claims to be Margaret Kent's oldest grandson. He offered some interesting information on the life of Margaret Kent.
Nick Courvoisier of Lyon, France writes:
I do confirm that M. Kent was my grandmother and author of those books and others...My God how we heard about it and E.B.... She wrote for financial reasons as she wanted to offer the best education for her four kids. I can very vividly remember touring the West Country's (mainly Somerset) Women's Institutes back in the early 60's with my grand mother who would be lecturing on how to teach music to kids... and me stuck in a corner with a triangle...understanding English but not speaking it!! I was in Bordeaux when my Gran died in '78 and didn't make it to her funeral. SCAMP was the family dog: my uncle and mother recollect very well re. Scamp. A dog's story. Of her four children three are still alive. The fourth-my mother- passed away in 2006. I am her eldest grand son.
We thank Nick for this great first-hand information which leads us to conclude that Margaret Kent, at least, was not one of the pseudonyms of Enid Blyton. Further information including a bibliography of Margaret Kent's books is available at http://bearalley.blogspot.com/2006/10/margaret-kent.html
If anyone has further information on Margaret Kent or any of the other potential unconfirmed pseudonyms proposed by Mason Willey, we would be delighted to hear from you.