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A review by amyl88
Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her by Melanie Rehak
5.0
A fascinating look at the publishing world, women in business, life at the turn of the century, and Nancy Drew herself. I'm sure I remember finding out that Carolyn Keene was a pen name; however, I don't think I ever heard the real story behind these books.
Along with Nancy, the Stratemeyer Syndicate was also behind several other series for children. The Hardy Boys and the Bobbsey Twins were some of the ones I read as a kid. There were many others, though. The founder of the Syndicate kept tight control over characters and plots, providing outlines to different writers who then churned these books out by the dozen. None of the writers were allowed to claim any of their work - all of the books were "written by" their respective authors, who never really existed.
This is a truly interesting history of the Stratemeyer Syndicate. After the founder died, his daughters took over in a time when women were not supposed to work outside the home. Harriet Stratemeyer Adams attended Wellesley, graduating in 1914. Her father, rather progressive for the times, still did not want to allow her to take a job. She worked for him for a while, then got married and became a housewife. Upon his death, she and her sister, Edna, tried to sell the company, but were unable to find any buyers who could pay what they wanted. They decided to try to figure it out themselves. They continued successfully running it for decades, though they ended up rather estranged. Edna eventually became a silent partner, moving to Florida, but continuing to assert her opinions from afar.
The real star of the story is the actual author of most of the Nancy Drew books, Mildred Wirt. She accepted the assignment as a young woman and was largely responsible for the development of Nancy as a character. She spent the latter part of her life working to attach her name to her body of work, because Harriet Adams was claiming to be Carolyn Keene instead of explaining how the Syndicate worked (multiple authors sometimes worked on one series). Though she had originally signed away her rights to the books, she was disturbed when Adams started claiming to be the author. Wirt also learned to fly at an advanced age and was a working journalist up until the day she died in 2002, at the age of 96. I would have liked to have known her!
I didn't realize syndicate writing was a thing when James Patterson was doing it. I am not a huge fan of it because I think authors should retain the rights to their material. I can see in this case how the lines might be blurry due to the heavy control over the plot and characters the Syndicate kept. Patterson at least gave his authors a credit on the cover.
Along with Nancy, the Stratemeyer Syndicate was also behind several other series for children. The Hardy Boys and the Bobbsey Twins were some of the ones I read as a kid. There were many others, though. The founder of the Syndicate kept tight control over characters and plots, providing outlines to different writers who then churned these books out by the dozen. None of the writers were allowed to claim any of their work - all of the books were "written by" their respective authors, who never really existed.
This is a truly interesting history of the Stratemeyer Syndicate. After the founder died, his daughters took over in a time when women were not supposed to work outside the home. Harriet Stratemeyer Adams attended Wellesley, graduating in 1914. Her father, rather progressive for the times, still did not want to allow her to take a job. She worked for him for a while, then got married and became a housewife. Upon his death, she and her sister, Edna, tried to sell the company, but were unable to find any buyers who could pay what they wanted. They decided to try to figure it out themselves. They continued successfully running it for decades, though they ended up rather estranged. Edna eventually became a silent partner, moving to Florida, but continuing to assert her opinions from afar.
The real star of the story is the actual author of most of the Nancy Drew books, Mildred Wirt. She accepted the assignment as a young woman and was largely responsible for the development of Nancy as a character. She spent the latter part of her life working to attach her name to her body of work, because Harriet Adams was claiming to be Carolyn Keene instead of explaining how the Syndicate worked (multiple authors sometimes worked on one series). Though she had originally signed away her rights to the books, she was disturbed when Adams started claiming to be the author. Wirt also learned to fly at an advanced age and was a working journalist up until the day she died in 2002, at the age of 96. I would have liked to have known her!
I didn't realize syndicate writing was a thing when James Patterson was doing it. I am not a huge fan of it because I think authors should retain the rights to their material. I can see in this case how the lines might be blurry due to the heavy control over the plot and characters the Syndicate kept. Patterson at least gave his authors a credit on the cover.