Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her

If you had asked me, when I was twelve years old, who I wanted to be when I grew up, I wouldn't have hesitated an instant. "I want to be Carolyn Keene!" I would have said. "I want to write Nancy Drew mysteries!" So you can imagine my surprise and delight when I picked up the phone one day in the mid-1980s and heard the question, like an echo of a nearly-forgotten dream, "Would you like to be Carolyn Keene?" Would I like to be Carolyn Keene? Would I like to win the lottery, hang the moon, be queen for a day or a lifetime? Or as Nancy would say, "Now, that's the silliest question I've ever heard!" Of course I would love to be Carolyn Keene! I felt as if the universe had suddenly opened up and smiled straight down at me. I was about to join the magical, mystical, mysterious team of writers who created the most famous Girl Detective of all time. I was going to be Carolyn Keene! As a result of that phone call, I wrote five Nancys and a pair of Hardy Boys, working alone or with my husband, Bill Albert. And as a result of that apprenticeship, I went on to be a writer of many other mysteries, a profession and a vocation that I am still happily pursuing twenty years later. So it was as Carolyn Keene that I happily opened Melanie Rehak's biography of Nancy, Harriet Stratemeyer Adams, and Mildred Wirt Benson--and I wasn't disappointed. Rehak's book begins with the first chapter of Nancy's adventures, with the story of Edward Stratemeyer, boy literary wizard and his remarkable children's book syndicate, which got underway with the Rover Boys (1895), carried on with the Bobbsey Twins (1904), and produced the Hardy Boys (1927) and Nancy Drew (1930). Stratemeyer produced the concept, the plot outline, and the publishing contract (much of his work was published by Grosset & Dunlap), and hired out the writing to nameless authors who did the actual work for a flat rate of around $125, under a series pseudonym: Franklin W. Dixon for the Hardy Boys, Carolyn Keene for the Nancy Drew series. Stratemeyer died just twelve days after Nancy's launch, and his daughter, Harriet Stratemeyer Adams, took over the Syndicate. Harriet, who graduated from Wellesley and married a stockbroker, had been raised to enjoy life as a well-to-do socialite. She didn't find it easy to take over Stratemeyer's desk, for (believing that women's place was in the home) her father had kept all of his business dealings separate from the home he made for his now-ailing wife and two daughters. What's more, Harriet had young children at home, and had to juggle her work with her family and social obligations. She had a lot to learn, but learn she did, and under her direction, the Syndicate not only stayed afloat but prospered, even through the dark days of the Depression. But it wasn't just Harriet that kept the Syndicate from going under; a young writer named Mildred Augustine Wirt (later Benson) played a major role in its survival and success. Mildred was a small-town Iowa girl with o

Girl Sleuth is that rarity: a scholarly and informative book that is also delightfully entertaining. While the story of Harriet Stratemeyer Adams and her publishing syndicate that produced one of the most beloved characters in American young-adult literature, amateur detective Nancy Drew, has been told before, surely it can never have been recounted in such fascinating detail and in such fluent, readable prose. Author Rehak begins her book by warning that "this is a mystery story, " and indeed several mysteries are explored and unraveled as the book progresses. The most important of these is: how did a woman in the 1930s manage to become a successful CEO of her own business? As Rehak tells it, it wasn't easy. Harriet Stratemeyer (later Adams) and her sister Edna took over their father Edward Stratemeyer's successful publishing business upon his death in 1930. He had already created several classic children's book series, including the Rover Boys and the Bobbsey Twins, hitting upon the scheme of coming up with plot outlines and editing the books while farming out the actual writing to a team of specially trained ghostwriters. It was this formula that Harriet and Edna were to carry on after his death, but surely they could not have foreseen the breakout success of one of the Stratemeyer Syndicate's characters, red-haired, blue-eyed, roadster-driving Nancy Drew, daughter of a successful District Attorney in River Heights, USA. (Among Rehak's more entertaining tidbits is that Edward Stratemeyer had originally named her Stella Strong.) The obstacles that Adams faced, not the least of which was juggling the demands of running a business and her own household, would be daunting even today; that she faced and largely overcame them in an era where women were still regarded as usurpers in the work world testifies to an almost unbelievable drive and determination. Rehak acknowledges her exceptional qualities without whitewashing her mistakes and less defensible acts, including her treatment of the one author responsible for more than twenty of the Nancy Drew books, Mildred Wirt Benson, as equally unusual and independent a woman as the Stratemeyer sisters, and a successful journalist and author in her own right. It is perhaps understandable, though not excusable, that in later life Harriet Adams tried to downplay Benson's role in the mega-success of the Drew books, to the extent of denying her authorship and projecting the impression that Adams was their sole author and creator. Through the three hundred-odd pages of Girl Sleuth Rehak chronicles the ups and downs of the Stratemeyer Syndicate, dovetailing its history neatly with the changing role of women in American society and business, through World War II, the Vietnam era and the Women's Liberation movement. Her narrative indeed has the drive, economy and precision of a good detective story. Girl Sleuth manages to incorporate feminist studies, a business history and a chronicle of American pop culture

Amazingly fun reading. Melanie Rehak is very detailed and did her sleuthing research on Nancy Drew and the women (and men, YES) who created her. This is Rehak's first book -- but she's known in NY circles for her articles and reviews etc....she does a terrific job tracing Nancy Drew's history and role in popular culture from 1930 to today....80 million books later-- she (Nancy Drew) is a cultural phenom that seems to transcend age and the web. Just in time for summer reading -- did you know the new Nancy Drew movie starring Julie Roberts niece just wrapped and will be heading for theatres soon...The info on the STratemeyers including Ed the dime novel genius and his daughters such as Harriett is fascinating. Kudos to Mildred Wirt Benson-- originally from Ohio I believe....who ctually wrote unde rthe pen name of Carolyn Keene....from The Secret of the Old Clock to the latest incarnations such as Papercutz American Anime Nancy Drew Versions ([...]-- and yes I do know the guys there) you'll find a version and tale of Nancy Drew for everyone. Great gift. Don't worry the book looks old but that's the cover design...There's also a discussion guide available at [...] so you're reading club can add this to your collection....great cocktail party chatter or fun shower gift or Bridesmaid token....enjoy.....!!!!!

I loved this book. Not only did it tell the story of my favorite fictional character, Nancy Drew, but it also told the history of Women in America for the last 100 years.

In the 1950s my mother would take me with her while she shopped. Twice a month we would go to the variety store to buy fabric, kitchen supplies and other odd bits and pieces. While she shopped, I would head to a small but exciting corner of the store that housed a tiny bookstore of sorts. Eagerly I would search out the newest arrival of my favorite girl sleuth: Nancy Drew. It was a grand and exhilarating time for a young girl who dreamed of being a strong, smart young girl who solved exciting mysteries. Nancy Drew is 75 years old and Melanie Rehak has written a comprehensive book on the most successful writing franchise ever. From what began as a kernel of an idea from the prolific Edward Stratemeyer (he also created the Bobbsey Twins and the Hardy Boys) we follow the beginnings of Nancy Drew and the creation of the author Carolyn Keene. Rehak takes us on an interesting journey of the two real-life women who authored the books, the cultural changes that required the books content to be edited over the years and other little known but fascinating items about Nancy Drew. Millions of American girls have grown up on Nancy Drew. This book is the icing on the cake for Drew lovers who want to be in the know .... Armchair Interviews says: Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her is a fun read that will add pleasure to the fond memories of Nancy Drew you had as a child.