Husband finds novel in shop with Midland wife's 50-year-old notes on it
A smitten book enthusiast from Hockley, Essex was left astonished when he stumbled upon a 50 year old Enid Blyton novel penned with his wife's childhood notes in a charity shop haul.
Steve Mills, at the ripe age of 67, avidly collects works by the celebrated children's author and during a rummage through recent acquisitions, unearthed poignant scribbles from his partner Karen, now 60.
The book in question, 'The Naughtiest Girl Again', was originally jettisoned by Karen's mother in the swinging seventies.
Read more: Birmingham rhyming slang
Intriguingly, the tome surfaced over 160 miles from Karen's Staffordshire roots, in Rayleigh, long before her paths crossed with Steve.
The eager bibliophile, whose adoration for Enid Blyton's magical tales dates back to his own youth, expressed his bewilderment: "We've taken it as one of the universe's strange coincidences."
Steve, who carved out a career in civil service, reflected on the momentous find: "I had a load of books that I bought together and it wasn't until a couple of months went by that I was rearranging the books on the shelf.
"I decided to look through them properly, opened one up and recognised the number on the front cover."
The discovery swiftly became a family affair as Steve recounted: "It was my brother-in-law and my wife's old address. I jokingly showed it to her and she turned the next page."
Upon turning the leaf, nostalgia bloomed as Karen's juvenile scrawl, consisting of her namesake, erstwhile abode, contact number, and quaint 'stick-figure' doodles depicting her kin appeared.
Karen's octogenarian parents were reportedly tickled pink by the serendipitous revelation shared by their son-in-law.
Steve was over the moon when he stumbled upon more books in his collection that featured his wife's handwritten notes.
He exclaimed: "Lo and behold, there was a second and third book belonging to my wife."
The additional finds included 'Five on a Treasure Island' and 'Adventures of Pip', all adorned with Karen's personal annotations.
In his quest, Steve also discovered a note declaring 'I have got 12 of Enid Blytons books' and has set his heart on finding the remaining nine.
After sharing his nostalgic discovery on an Enid Blyton Fan Group on Facebook, Steve's post garnered a whopping 1,300 likes.
Steve reflected: "It's touched on people's heartstrings and there's a lot of people out there who would love to find things from their childhood."
He added, "It was a simpler life and that's why I like them so much."
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