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A review by juliabway
Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the Women Who Created Her by Melanie Rehak
4.0
"Grab your magnifying glass, because this is a mystery story." That's the first sentence of the book, and it was all it took to convince me that this book was absolutely something I'd want to read. For the most part, the book didn't quite live up to this particular promise. It's not a mystery at all.
But it turned out to be something even better. Not just a history of the Nancy Drew stories and their place in our culture, but also the story of women in the twentieth century. Everything from the Wellesley College experience at the beginning of the century, to the roaring twenties, to Rosie the Riveter and the housewives of the 1950s, and so on. I also loved reading about the subtle (and not-so-subtle) changes in Nancy's persona. And of course, the lives of Harriet Adams and Mildred Wirt, the two ladies most responsible for the series.
All in all, I read this almost as quickly as I'd have read a Nancy Drew book back when I was a kid (though I always preferred the more modern "Case Files of Nancy Drew" to the classic stories).
But it turned out to be something even better. Not just a history of the Nancy Drew stories and their place in our culture, but also the story of women in the twentieth century. Everything from the Wellesley College experience at the beginning of the century, to the roaring twenties, to Rosie the Riveter and the housewives of the 1950s, and so on. I also loved reading about the subtle (and not-so-subtle) changes in Nancy's persona. And of course, the lives of Harriet Adams and Mildred Wirt, the two ladies most responsible for the series.
All in all, I read this almost as quickly as I'd have read a Nancy Drew book back when I was a kid (though I always preferred the more modern "Case Files of Nancy Drew" to the classic stories).