Stories for Mothers and Daughters - A British Library Women Writers Collection

I used to start reviews of short story collections saying something like, “I don’t normally gravitate towards short stories”. But I can’t make that claim anymore. In less than a year I went from someone who almost never read short stories to someone who loves them. I enjoy sitting with a short story and knowing that I will be able to find out what happens in the end without staying up past my bedtime. I love that short stories can act as a snapshot, capturing a moment in time. They aren’t required to take us on a sweeping journey, but they might. And they might just capture a woman ironing clothes, while being a million miles away in her thoughts, or a mother and daughter going to the cinema, or a woman wandering her home and missing her daughters. Stories for Mothers and Daughters is full of small moments, big emotions, and the complicated relationships between mothers and daughters. Apologies for the length of this review. I tried to be brief, but there are 16 stories in this collection, and apparently, I had a lot of things to say about them.

“Week-End” by Richmal Crompton (1931)

A woman waits in expectation for her two daughters to come home for the weekend. They bring two friends with them, and basically create chaos in their mother‘s life while they’re there. She says that neither of her daughters is like her, as she had hoped. They don’t enjoy quiet time, and they certainly aren’t bookish. They remind her of her husband, Bruce. It is clear she loves her daughters, but she gives a sigh of relief and smiles when they are gone and her home is quiet again. I can’t say I blame her. The group of four girls together sound more wild than a bunch of monkeys. They also sound very young indeed. They certainly cannot be old enough to be working in an office, but then maybe that’s because I identified with the mother!

“Maternal Devotion” by Sylvia Townsend Warner (1947)

Very amusing story about a woman, Cordelia Finch, who has all of her unwanted suitors sit with her mother. 

“I’m always alarmed when I see people plunge into gardening. Still, if your mother enjoys it ... Besides, there is the Fifth Commandment. I read right through the Ten Commandments the other day, and I was surprised to find how many of them I agreed with. But it would have saved a lot of talk, as well as being much lighter to carry, if Moses had just boiled them down to one compact little commandment—‘Thou shalt not interfere.’ I knew a Mrs Prothero who was perfectly devoted to gardening, and one day when she was being shown around a friend’s garden she saw a weed and tried to pull it up. It happened to be a tight-rooted wolfsbane, and while she was tussling with it, something snapped and she went blind in one eye. Could you have a plainer warning against meddling?” (14)

By the time her mother is through talking their ear off, they are running for the hills. Too funny! 

“The Value of Being Seen” by Inez Holden (1945)

This story is about Daphne, a reluctant debutant. Forced to go to dances night after night, by her mother with the expectation that Daphne be seen, because according Daphne’s mother being seen is the most important thing. But no one sees Daphne. 

She seemed to be seeing hundreds of eyes, which had no separate existence simply a mass of eyes like caviare among noses; they did not seem to be anyone’s specially, they were only a great number of eyes, liquid and dead. So this was her first dance. Her mother’s words about the value of being seen came into her mind, but these eyes did not seem to be looking at her. They seemed to be looking, not at anyone or anything, but only looking. (21)

It is not just that they don’t notice her, it’s as though they cannot actually see her. And eventually she becomes a shade. This interesting story has a spectacular ending, one I’ll be thinking about for some time. 

I really enjoyed the writing of this one and was wondering why the author’s name sounded so familiar, when I realised that’s because I have two of her books on my shelves, Blitz Writing and There’s No Story There. I have not read them yet, but they had been on my wishlist for a while and when I heard that Handheld Press were closing their doors, they were two of the ones I purchased. After reading this sample of her writing, I’m even more excited to get to them.

“Psalms” by Jeanette Winterson (1998)

This one is about a woman who tries to get a job as a tea-taster. Goodness! Who wouldn’t want that job?! She has to fill out a questionnaire, at the end of which she is asked to write about the experience she considers the most significant in the forming of her character. She writes about how when she was little her mother wanted to get her a pet. There’s the impression she would have liked a dog or even a ferret, she already has an imaginary bunny named, Ezra. But her mother decides a tortoise is the best choice. 

“Why don’t I call it Ebenezer?” (I was thinking that would match Ezra.)

“We’re calling it Psalms because I want you to praise the Lord.”

“I can praise the Lord if it’s called Ebenezer.”

“But you won’t, will you? You’ll say you forgot. What about the time I bought you that 3-D postcard of the garden of Gethsemane? You said that would help you think about the Lord and I caught you singing ‘On Ilkley Moor Baht ’at’”

“Alright then,” I sulked. “We’ll call it Psalms.” (31)

And the girl reads to the tortoise from the Psalms everyday. The tortoise seems to be fulfilling its purpose. She learns large chunks of the Bible and she wins all the competitions in Sunday School. This is a funny, odd story and another one that I don’t quite know what to make of. It’s also another one where the mother and daughter seem to be, if not entirely at odds with each other, there is a lack of understanding between them. But as you can tell from the bit of dialogue, it is a very humorous story, indeed. If you are unfamiliar with the song “On Ilkley Moor Baht ’at”, you can listen to it here, and find the lyrics here. By the time worms part of the picture, I was in stitches. 

“The End of the Fairy Tale” by Maude Egerton King (1911)

A normally absent and neglectful mother, who usually leaves the care of her five-year-old daughter to her nurse, ends up putting her daughter to bed when her evening plans get cancelled at the last minute. The daughter is clearly starved for motherly attention, which made me think that the mother was selfish and self involved, but as the story goes on, there’s a suggestion that there is more to it than that. There is perhaps some sort of societal expectation that she has allowed herself to be caught up with instead of investing herself in her daughter’s life. Her husband is away in South Africa, and there is the suggestion of an affair, which takes up her attention, as a man calls at the house, interrupting her time with her daughter. I found this one both touching and sad.

“The Pictures” by Janet Frame (1951)

A mother and daughter go to the pictures. While they’re watching the film, they seem to be on the same plane, both enjoying themselves. “The little girl laughed. She clapped her hands and giggled and the woman laughed with her. They were the happiest people in the world” (50). But when they leave, the mother is thinking about having to return home to the boarding house where she lives alone with her daughter.

And the woman thought of going up stairs and putting the little girl to bed and then touching and looking at the daffodil in the window-box, it was a lovely daffodil. And looking about her and thinking the woman felt sad.

But the little girl in the pixie-cap didn’t feel sad, she was eating a paper lolly, it was greeny-blue and it tasted like peppermints. (53)

There is something so heartbreaking about this one. The disconnect between the mother and daughter in this last snapshot, compared to when they are laughing in the cinema is poignant.

“The Silver Cloak” by Winifred Holtby (1937)

A seamstress, Annie Moorcroft is given a silver cloak from one of her clients. On her way home, she imagines the effect the dress will have on her life. As a young woman of 36, who still looks young, she feels the dress will help her look good for when men come to court her daughter, Katie, who is just coming of age. But when Annie shows the garment to her daughter, Katie seems downcast and sulky, and isn’t nearly as excited as Annie expected her to be. It occurs to Annie that her daughter is jealous of her. Jealous of the dress.

I have mixed feelings about this story, because I just think of all the times that mother sacrifice more than they should. The incident with the garment could have been a learning experience for the daughter, who in my opinion is a bit of a brat. Mothers deserve to have nice clothes too! The daughter is always well dressed, in clothes her mother has made for her. She does not need another dress, and the silver cloak was given to the mother, after all. But I think the story is meant to point to the small sacrifices mothers make for their children every day. 

“History Again Repeats Itself” by E.M. Delafield (1929)

Theodosia invites her friend Alex, and two others to her parents’ house for Christmas. While Alex is not her boyfriend, they have been going around together for the past year. Theodosia has come to think of him as more than a friend though, she has not yet admitted it to herself. Upset at seeing Alex get along so well with Marjorie, one of the other friends invited for Christmas, Theodosia confronts him. She accuses him of being in love with Marjorie, and she surprises both of them when she ends up in tears. Her mother saves Theodosia from embarrassment. Theodosia and her mother do not quite understand each other, they are not quite at odds, but Theodosia does think she knows better than dear mummy. Theodosia is young and perhaps not quite so worldly, or superior, as she had thought. I appreciated how her mother quietly, and firmly guided her daughter when she saw she needed help, but otherwise leaves Theodosia to figure things out for herself. E.M. Delafield’s writing is always a treat. Full of humour and observant of her characters’ flaws, while displaying the foibles that often result with wit and understanding.

“Mothers and Daughters” by Frances Gray Patton (1952) 

Emily and her sister, Belle, chat by the fire one cold March evening while waiting for Emily’s daughter, Laura, to come home. Feeling comfortable, Emily confesses that her daughter is remote, cold, and hostile towards her (84). She immediately regrets saying something so horrible about her own daughter. But Belle brushes it off. Then Laura comes home and Belle sees firsthand how Laura is with her mother. Once Laura has left the room, Belle admits,

“I see what you mean. She doesn’t care for you very much at the moment. You’ll have to trust to time.” She smiled ruefully. “It’s like Mama used to say when we were broken up about something that couldn’t be helped. ‘Don’t struggle, lie down and let the waves beat over you.” (96)

Not bad advice, but Emily feels the need to confront her daughter and what results is enlightening. I had to share this quotation, because I think the author does a great job of showing the gap in sentiment that mothers of teenage daughters must bridge.

“As soon as the conversation gets meaningful you make a wisecrack. You retreat. Why, you haven’t even noticed how beautiful the world is tonight.” She took her mother by the arm and drew her to the window. “Look!”

Emily looked. Her house was on a hill, and across the road, where, the land began to fall away, stood an elm tree, large and symmetrical. Below the tree were rooftops of houses that seemed to form a flight of giant steps going down in the darkness. Tonight, in the ice storm, the elm was a great sequined fan and the ridgepoles were penciled silver lines.

“Doesn’t it make you want to cry?” asked Laura.

“No,” said Emily. She felt too tired and baffled for anything but the simple truth. “Not except when I think how slick the roads will be in the morning.” (99)

This one ends on a surprisingly light note, with Emily understanding Laura’s “problem”.

“The Shadow of Kindness” by Maeve Brennan (1965)

I found this one to be touching, and a bit sad. Mrs. Bagot has sent her children off to a relatives farm for a month. 

[T]here were other things she was going to do, but these preparations, which she had already memorized and timed to the minute, still left her with nothing to do for a month but look forward, and she knew a grown woman should have more life of her own. Even if she had children, a woman should have a life of her own that would stand up when the children were out of the house for any length of time. She knew that. It was not right to let yourself get so lost in your children that you could find no trace of yourself when they were gone. What would she do when they grew up? Of course, it was silly to think of it; not silly—morbid. She was letting her imagination run away with her. She would make herself a cup of tea and cheer herself up. The tea would cheer her up. Still, she did not move. She continued to stand by the big window looking out into her garden. (103-104)

It’s the first day without her children and she is at a loss, and more than a little lonely, but she finds comfort in an unexpected place.

I especially enjoyed the beautiful descriptions of the garden and the interiors of Mrs. Bagot’s house. The children’s bedroom come alive when Mrs. Bagot is confronted with the unfamiliar, or should I say, she sees the familiar from a different perspective. And there is a dear dog, a white terrier named Bennie, a big orange cat named Rupert, and small black cat named Minnie. We know Bennie is a very good dog, because he doesn’t kick up a fuss when greedy Rupert checks Bennie’s bowl for stray morsels of food. A story with a dog is just about guaranteed to be a favourite of mine, as this one is.

“Rose-Coloured Teacups” by A.S. Byatt (1987)

This story is like a snapshot in time, or times. I normally love description, but the large chunk at the beginning of this one was a bit much for me. I felt my attention wain by the second page, and I fear if I had come across this story in a magazine I would have moved on. However, I did appreciate how Byatt showed how people see their experience of a place as being the definitive one. Again, pointing out the disconnect between the generations and the gaps that must be bridged for understanding to be realised. 

“Love is Not a Pie” by Amy Bloom (1993)

I stood and looked and then backed out of the bedroom. They hadn’t moved, the three of them breathing deeply, in unison. What was that, I thought, what did I see? I wanted to go back and take another look, to see it again, to make it disappear, to watch them carefully, until I understood. (139)

The story begins with the funeral of Ellen and Lizzie’s mother, but much of it is set during summers past spent at their cabin. Told from Ellen’s perspective as a young girl, I think Bloom does a great job of capturing the thought process of a child when they have seen something they don’t quite understand. This one is sad, but also really lovely.

“The Battle-Field” by Phyllis Bottome (1934)

Thirty-five-year old, Madeline Writtle has always been delicate, but after her sister’s death she becomes worryingly ill. Eventually, she winds up in a sanatorium for consumption, where the doctor works as much on her worryingly co-dependent relationship with her mother, as he does on building up her physical health. The writing remains fairly light throughout, but the undertone is quite dark. 

“I Stand Here Ironing” by Tillie Olsen (1961)

A woman ruminates about her daughter Emily’s upbringing after receiving a call from the girl’s school. The mother has to go out to work when Emily is eight months old, the father has left, and the mother is 19. Later, Emily gets the measles and the mother is encouraged to send her daughter to a place where she can recuperate, which sounds more like a prison for disadvantaged children than a rest home.

It took us eight months to get her released home, and only the fact that she gained back so little of her seven lost pounds convinced the social worker. 

 I used to try to hold and love her after she came back, but her body would stay stiff, and after a while she'd push away. She ate little. Food sickened her, and I think much of life too. Oh she had physical lightness and brightness, twinkling by on skates, bouncing like a ball up and down up and down over the jump rope, skimming over the hill; but these were momentary. (173-174)

Heartbreaking. Moving. And I can imagine that a lot of single mothers at this time without independent means were forced to make similarly heart-wrenching choices. 

“The Stepmother” by Mary Arden (1928)

A teacher at a boarding school for girls becomes engaged. She settles down to her new life with her husband, and all seems well enough. But life is complicated by her stepdaughter, who she only meets after she has married the girl’s father, and does not want to have anything to do with her stepmother. Then a little girl who was a favourite of hers at the boarding school writes asking if she can stay for part of the school holiday. This story is about the complicated role of being a stepmother.

“My Mother” by Jamaica Kincaid (1983)

Short, poetic, and figurative. The mother-daughter relationship is mythologised in this powerful collection of vignettes. At first, I thought this was going to be my least favourite story in the collection. And then I read this…

My mother reached out to pass a hand over my head, a pacifying gesture, but I laughed and, with great agility, stepped aside. I let out a horrible roar, then a self-pitying whine. I had grown big, but my mother was bigger, and that would always be so. (201)

How well Kincaid has captured the complicated struggle between the urge to have agency over one’s own life and the power of one’s mother. Then this part just about bowled me over…

My mother, while caressing my chin and cheeks, said some words of comfort to me because we had never been apart before. She kissed me on the forehead and turned and walked away. I cried so much my chest heaved up and down, my whole body shook at the sight of her back turned towards me, as if I had never seen her back turned towards me before. I started to make plans to get off the boat, but when I saw that the boat was encased in a large green bottle, as if it were about to decorate a mantelpiece, I fell asleep, until I reached my destination, the new island. When the boat stopped, I got off and I saw a woman with feet exactly like mine, especially around the arch of the instep. Even though the face was completely different from what I was used to, I recognised this woman as my mother. We greeted each other at first with great caution and politeness, but as we walked along, our steps became one, and as we talked, our voices became one voice, and we were in complete union in every other way. What peace came over me then, for I could not see where she left off and I began, or where I left off and she began. (203-204)

She does not tell how she trusted this mother with a changed face, after her mother turned her back on her. Alas, there is hope here. Hope of new beginnings, understanding, and love, despite all the hurt that gets intertwined over time.

Admittedly, I was unable to enjoy this collection with the same abandon as I did Stories for Summer and Days By the Pool, which came out last year in the British Library Women Writers collection. The mother-daughter relationship is too fraught with landmines to really get comfortable for any extended period of time. But, perhaps, I am bringing too much of my own experience to my reading, and to this review. As a whole Stories for Mothers and Daughters was less fraught with emotion than I was expecting, I held my tears until the final story, but I suspect if you are a mother or a daughter you will find these stories either more or less relatable than I did. There is some fabulous writing in this collection. I suspect Jamaica Kincaid’s “My Mother” is one that will take up residence in my thoughts and the depths of my heart for some time.

Come to this book for the writing. Stay for the emotional exorcism. And if you are not a mother or a daughter, this book provides a glimpse of the many complexities of mother-daughter relationships. 

Thank you to British Library Publishing for kindly sending me a copy of Stories for Mothers and Daughters for review. As always, all opinions on the book are my own.

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The Ten Teacups by Carter Dickson

THERE WILL BE TEN TEACUPS AT NUMBER 4, BERWICK TERRACE, W. 8, ON WEDNESDAY, JULY 31ST, AT 5 P.M. PRECISELY. THE PRESENCE OF THE METROPOLITAN POLICE IS RESPECTFULLY REQUESTED.

So begins the captivating 1937 locked-room mystery, The Ten Teacups by Carter Dickson, a pen name of John Dickson Carr, and the latest book in the British Library Crime Classics collection.

It would appear to be a fairly innocuous note that arrives on Chief Inspector Humphrey Masters’ desk with the first post on the stifling Wednesday in question. That is, if it was not for the fact that after receiving an almost identical note in April two years ago, a body with two bullet holes was discovered at the address provided. A murder that has yet to be solved. Cue Sir Henry Merrivale, or H.M., as he is almost exclusively referred. 

The police surround 4, Berwick Terrace. Detective Sergeant Pollard, is situated across the hall from a newly furnished room in an otherwise empty and uninhabited house. At the centre of the room is a table and resting on a rare antique peacock patterned shawl lay ten teacups evenly spaced like the face of a clock. Not a soul could get in or out without being seen. So when Vance Keating enters the house he is most certainly alone in the room when the clock strikes 5 p.m.

Four-fifteen. Four-thirty. Pollard felt his scalp crawl and his wits thicken under the pressure of heat. Still no sound issued from the room, nor was there a sign of any other visitor, while the watcher stood neck-cramped with his eyes on the door. The hand of his wrist-watch crept upwards: a quarter to five. And now good theories began to dissolve when he remembered Masters’s words: “I don’t know whether you can run a secret society without any fuss, but I’m smacking well certain you can’t run one without any members.” He was right. Vance Keating sat alone in the shrine, guarded if ever a man was guarded with police at both the back and the front. Five minutes to five. (43-44)

Like the incident two years before, there is a certain inevitability to what occurs. A man is dead and now the police, with the help of H.M.—who appears to doze off at the most unfortunate times—need to figure out how. None of the clues seem to bring them any closer to a conclusion and none appear to be linked with each other. The similarities are the ten teacups on a table, an antique with a peacock print, a newly furnished room in an otherwise empty and uninhabited house, and a person who has been killed in a way that could not possibly be self-inflicted. Oh, and that both houses were previously owned by Mr. and Mrs. Derwent. There is a sense of ceremony to both scenes, which helps spark the idea a secret society is involved in the murders.

I loved the premise of this book. The beginning had me hooked and did not want to put it down. When I was called away, I kept thinking about it, spinning scenarios in my head of where the plot might go. I fear my dog and husband did not get my full attention for a couple of days!

I never felt like I learned anything about H.M. Perhaps, the reader is not meant to. He is certainly not the focus of this book in the way that some detectives are the central character and the murder is just a way of showing off the detective’s intelligence and little quirks. But there is an absence in the place of H.M. I almost forgot he was in some scenes. It is as though he sits back and takes things in, following the trail to the truth, while not sharing any of his process with us. He often scolds Masters for blundering ahead and showing all of his cards to the suspects. Again, perhaps this absence of a figure is purposeful. After all, he is referred to as H.M. almost exclusively, not a name, just a stand-in for one. Somewhere in the first chapter or two, I had to check the back to make sure I was not getting confused between Humphrey Masters and Sir Henry Merrivale as the two share the same initials. Are they meant to be the ying and yang of each other, together creating law and order? I will be interested to read some of Carter Dickson’s other books featuring H.M. to see if I can glean anything more about him in those.

My only real quibble with this one was the ending. It felt like it dragged on for much too long. The conclusion was complicated, required a lot of explaining, and some aspects crossed over into the unbelievable. And when I say complicated I mean bordering on convoluted—there are footnotes, for goodness sake! Although, I would be lying if I didn’t admit I did sort of love the novelty of the footnotes. I do see why the author chose to spin out the ending, as many mysteries of this sort tend to, but it is not a format that I like. To me this one felt a bit too much like Poirot gathering everyone together in the library to show off how cleaver he is. The only difference is that H.M. managed to do this without a gigantic monologue. For which, I am truly grateful. 

I lied. I actually have another grievance to air. The representation of women in this novel is narrow at best, and sexist at worst. The two woman in this book, whether portrayed as either the whore or the virgin, both have a performativity to them. This is an idea I formed as I was reading the last quarter. But I would like to reread this one and take note of whether there is strong evidence of this in the text, or if it is just an impression I was left with. Off hand, I can think of two such occurrences. One is when Mrs. Derwent, feigns she has been assaulted by Masters, creating a public disturbance.

“The point is,” growled Masters, “that all the time the commotion was going on, either out of devilment or to give her time to think what she was going to say, that woman was lying back pretending to cry, and laughing at me through her fingers.” (117)

One of the problems here is that we never do get Mrs. Derwent’s side of the story. We are expected to take Masters’ version of events as truth without question because he is a police officer.

There also seems to be something performative about the victim’s fiancée, Frances Gale, stamping her foot like a child when she doesn’t get her way with the police. But I cannot for the life of me find the place in the text where this occurs, so I may be forcing an interpretation without textual evidence. Something to look out for on a reread, for sure.

Of course, the books republished in this collection are bound to be a product of their time. There is a disclaimer at the beginning of each of them, making it clear that the British Library are in no way endorsing any of the problematic views portrayed in these books by republishing them. 

With this series British Library Publishing aims to offer a new readership a chance to read some of the rare books of the British Library's collections in an affordable paperback format, to enjoy their merits and to look back into the world of the twentieth century as portrayed by its writers.

These books are a snapshot of a time when the publishing industry was not questioning how underrepresented groups were being stereotyped and generally cast in a negative light. One cannot be sure that the author was knowingly portraying women in this light. It seems likely that the author too would be a product of his time, as are we all, for that matter.

There are other aspects of this book, specifically the conclusion, that I would love to go into, but the majority read mysteries for the plot and I would hate to spoil the experience for anyone, and as this is a book review, not an academic essay, I will refrain. However, I might have to do a full on spoiler-y discussion of this at some future date. If you have read this one, please get in touch. I would love to chat about it, but let’s keep the comments below spoiler free. Reach out via the contact form on this site, (which you can find at the top right of this page), or email me at carosbookcase@gmail.com.

The final verdict? Despite its convoluted ending, I would reread this one, not just to analyse the text, but because I enjoyed the first three quarters of this book so much. The premise ignited my imagination in a way that I have not experienced from a book in a long time. I recommend giving this locked-room mystery a try. Enjoy figuring out how, why, and whodunnit, and revel in the novelty (or do I mean oddity?) of those footnotes.

Thank you to British Library Publishing for kindly sending me a copy of The Ten Teacups for review. As always, all opinions on the book are my own.

Coming up next will be a review of Murder as a Fine Art by Carol Carnac a.k.a. E.C.R. Lorac, pictured below, along with a couple more titles in this collection that I was lucky enough to receive from the publisher. After enjoying her book Murder in Vienna, I am especially excited to read more of her work. If you are interested, you can find my review of that one here.

This blog post contains affiliate links for Blackwell’s. As a Blackwell’s Affiliate, I may receive a small commission, at no additional cost to you, if you decide to make a purchase through one of the links on my website. I recommend Blackwell’s because I use them myself. This helps support me in sharing—what I hope is—valuable content. Thank you for your support!

56 Weeks with Nancy Drew - The Haunted Bridge

Book 15

Welcome to the 56 Weeks with Nancy Drew series! If you are new here, welcome. You can find my introductory post to this series here. Please note I will be including plot spoilers in this review series. I explain my reasoning at the start of this post.

Editions pictured: OT (25 chapters, 220 pages); RT (20 chapters, 180 pages)

OT publication date: 1937

My OT edition printed: approx. 1942

OT cover illustrated by: Russell Tandy

RT publication date: 1972

My RT edition printed: approx. 1972

RT cover illustrated by: Rudy Nappi

Ghostwriter: Mildred A. Wirt Benson

Editors: Edna Stratemeyer Squier & Harriet Stratemeyer Adams

Revised by: Priscilla Baker-Carr

OT & RT setting: Deer Mountain Hotel (a summer resort with a championship golf course), Andover (town near the hotel)

Introduction

I’ve been enjoying the experience of reading both the original text (OT) and the revised text (RT) Nancy Drews so much that when I saw an early edition of The Haunted Bridge with a dust wrapper, and for a reasonable price, I had to order it. I would love to be able to blame my waiting for that book to arrive as the reason this post is going up so much later than planned. But the book was annoyingly prompt in arriving at my door! The problem was getting myself to read the thing. I found the OT to be shockingly similar to the RT. It was so similar that reading these within the same month felt like trying to read the same book twice in a row. If you are filling in the gaps in your Nancy Drew collection I would say you could hold off on acquiring the alternate version of this one. There are other titles in this series that differ greatly between the two versions, but The Haunted Bridge is not one of them.

Synopsis

Nancy Drew and her friends, Bess Marvin and George Fayne, are visiting Deer Mountain Hotel with Nancy’s father, Carson Drew, who is there on legal business. The summer resort boasts many sporting activities, in addition to a champion golf course, which is where the girls spend most of their days. It’s the lead up to a championship tournament for amateur golfers and the club’s golf pro has urged Nancy to enter. Nancy is playing a qualifying round when she drives her ball into a patch of woods bordering the sixteenth hole. Nancy is keen to retrieve her lost ball as it is one signed by Jimmy Harlow. But Nancy’s caddy refuses to go near the footbridge which stands at the other side of the woods. Apparently, the bridge is haunted and all of the caddies are scared of the woods! But we know by now that Nancy doesn’t believe in spooks. Nevertheless, she is eager to find out what it is that has the caddies so afraid of the spot. 

Nancy soon discovers that the ghost is a rigged up scarecrow and the moaning sound is nothing more than the wind in the trees. But someone has gone to some length to deter people from exploring the woods and Nancy wants to know why. In her investigation, Nancy finds a chest on the muddy riverbank, which turns out to be chock full of jewelry. Meanwhile, Carson Drew has been investigating a notorious smuggling gang and guess what they’ve been smuggling? Jewels! Nancy suspects the chest of jewelry has something to do with these international jewel thieves. Carson Drew gets Nancy’s help by going around to the hotels in the area on the lookout for a suspect who is supposed to have a jewelled compact mirror in her possession. Inside the compact there is said to be a photo of a little boy. In a hotel powder room, Nancy strikes up a conversation with a woman who has a jewelled compact, but there is no photo inside. Logically, the photo could simply have been removed, but Nancy doesn’t believe the kind woman she talked to could be a jewel thief. Besides, when she complimented the woman about the eye-catching compact, the woman had been perfectly willing to talk about it and show it to Nancy. (As we all know, in Nancy Drew Land, baddies act suspiciously, and have cruel faces!)

But there is also a loyal gardener living in a cabin in the woods that has outdoor enclosures filled with injured or orphaned wild animals. The man still potters around the garden of the Judson mansion even though the family haven’t been back to the property since the big fire that demolished the place. When the gardener gets injured and needs round-the-clock care, Ned and his friends arrive on the scene just in time to offer their services. 

As all of this is going on, Nancy is competing in a golf tournament, which she fits her sleuthing around. Things are looking good for Nancy, that is until she falls off a balcony into some bushes when she tries to avoid coming into close contact with unwanted male attention. Mortimer Bartescue, or Martin, as he is called in the RT, is the kind of many any woman in their right mind would gladly throw themselves off a balcony to avoid. Unfortunately, Nancy painfully injures her hand, which makes it difficult to play golf. But, lucky for Nancy, even an injured hand and an accusation of cheating doesn’t prevent her from winning the tournament, finding the missing Judson girl, reuniting a couple, uncovering a band of international jewel thieves, and solving the mystery of the haunted bridge. Not that the “haunted bridge” really has anything to do with the rest of the story, but it is an undeniably intriguing title!

Reading the same book twice

I should say that unlike what I have done in the past, I did not take extensive notes on these books as I was reading. I am sure with a closer reading one would discover more differences than the few I picked out. The biggest differences I found were the fact that in the RT Mortimer Bartescue was changed to Martin Bartescue. Perhaps Mortimer was not as fashionable a name in 1972 as it was in 1937. I cannot say I have ever met a Mortimer, so maybe the name change wasn’t such a bad idea.

But the biggest difference I noted is the addition of Burt and Dave to the RT. These friends of Ned Nickerson’s from college are introduced in the RT as “Burt Eddleton, George’s friend, and Dave Evans, who dated Bess” (RT 94). In the OT Ned arrives at Deer Mountain Hotel with Bud Mason and Bill Cowan, who are first referred to as “two strange youths” (OT 120). I don’t believe we get any description that distinguishes them from each other, despite this being the first time Nancy or the other girls are introduced to them. As far as I can tell they are only there so that Ned has help looking after Joe Haley, the gardener, and so that when the group go to one of the hotel dances, there is an even number of males to females.

One scene, two books

I thought I’d pick a favourite scene to display just how similar these books are. The bolded text is where the two versions differ. The two instances where wording has simply been altered have been italicized. 

First we have the scene in the OT.

[T]he girls made their way toward the haunted bridge. Dark clouds were moving swiftly overhead, and by the time the chums reached the woods a strong wind was blowing.

"Do you think it will rain soon?" Bess asked anxiously, scanning the sky overhead.

"Oh, not for an hour at least," Nancy replied carelessly. "Even if it should, we'll be partially protected by trees. Let's not turn back now."

The girls struck off through the timber, and soon were within view of the old bridge. With the sun under a cloud it was dark and gloomy beneath the canopy of trees. Bess shivered and kept close to her companions. Suddenly they were startled to hear the same groaning sound which had frightened them on their previous visit.

"Oh!" Bess squealed in terror, clutching George's arm. "There it is again!"

Nancy warned her to be quiet, and for several minutes the girls stood perfectly still, waiting for the sound to be repeated. No one could be seen anywhere near the bridge.

"I believe the noise came from far down the ravine," Nancy whispered after she was convinced that the groan would not be repeated. "Come on, let's investigate."

After briefly searching the locality near the bridge, the girls turned their attention to the trail which had interested them upon their first visit to the spot. Footprints were plainly visible. Nancy wondered if someone had not used the path within the past twenty-four hours.

"Let's not go that way today," Bess pleaded, reading her chum's thoughts. "It's growing darker every instant, and we don't want to be caught in a storm."

Scarcely had the words been spoken when a shrill scream broke the stillness of the forest.

This time Nancy was certain that the cry had come from far down the ravine.

"Come on!" she urged excitedly. "We'll solve this old mystery yet!" (OT 109-10)

Now, for the same scene in the RT.

The girls made their way toward the haunted bridge. Dark clouds were moving swiftly overhead, and by the time they reached the woods a strong wind was blowing.

Soon they were within view of the old bridge.

Bess shivered and kept close to her companions.

Suddenly they were startled to hear the same moaning and groaning sounds which had perplexed them on their first visit.

"Oh!" Bess squealed, clutching George's arm.

Nancy warned her to be quiet, and for several minutes the girls stood perfectly still, waiting for the sound to be repeated. There was only a rustle of leaves in the breeze.

"I believe the noise came from somewhere right around here," said Nancy. "Let's investigate. Maybe we'll find someone's in hiding, playing a joke."

The girls searched through the brush and trees near both ends of the bridge, but found no one. Then they explored the trail they had seen on their previous visit which led along the ravine. Footprints were clearly visible. Had someone used the path within the past twenty-four hours?

A moment later a shrill scream broke the stillness. This time Nancy was certain that the cry had come from some distance up the ravine.

"Let's go!" she urged excitedly. "We'll solve the mystery of these strange sounds yet!" (RT 88-89)

As you can see the two texts are remarkably similar. The passage from the OT is 310 words while the RT is 214, which means 31% has been cut from the OT. But as the OT is 220 pages in its entirety and the RT is 180 pages, I would say that on average 19% of the OT has been cut. This is just an estimate, of course, because we are comparing page numbers, not word count. For the most part all that has been removed from the RT is description. Although, in the RT Nancy suggests that the sounds might be from someone “playing a joke”, which diffuses some of the tension. In the OT there is no such explanation offered, and the tension is left to continue to build as the scene plays out. I think most of us would agree that the OT is more atmospheric, but when you are aiming to cut down a text it does make the most sense to start with anything that could be construed as unessential. I must admit that it wasn’t until I was reading these two passages side by side that I was aware there was any difference, besides the change from the friends being referred to as “the chums” to simply “they”. 

Final thoughts

In my opinion, the person who revised the OT, Priscilla Baker-Carr, did a wonderful job. As I said at the outset, I felt like I was reading the same book twice. Nothing important had been altered and I think that readers who are most familiar with the OT could read the RT of this one and recognize the same Nancy. But I wonder if this is because The Haunted Bridge is a fairly tame book. This isn’t a book full of dramatic scenes like some of the other Nancy Drews I have read in the OT. For example, the OT of The Whispering Statue has Nancy save two people from a burning plane that has crash landed in the ocean. In that same book a house set on eroding cliffs is taken by the sea with Nancy inside! Both versions of The Haunted Bridge have a lot of golf, some dances, a bit of exploring in the woods, a suspected forger is locked in a caddy club house until the authorities arrive, Nancy, Bess, and George surreptitiously follow a car, and Nancy confronts a thief with a lot of backup near by, and that’s about it! Minus a brief scene when Nancy falls through a bridge and gets swept away by a storm swollen stream, The Haunted Bridge doesn’t go in for big drama and there was very little bonkersness. I cannot believe I am saying this, because I’ve never thought of myself as a fan of the less believable aspects of these books, but I think more drama and bonkersness would have made this a better book.

Coming up next…

Next time, I will be discussing the Nancy Drew with Persian kittens, tap dancing, Morse code, and a secret room. It’s The Clue of the Tapping Heels. I can assure you that we are in for bonkersness in spades with this one!

While you’re waiting for me to come up the goods, why not check out my new favourite podcast, Regular Nancy Drew? As always, I am late to the party on this one. Regular Nancy Drew has been recording since early 2021 and they already have 92 episodes in the bank. Listening to the hosts, Becky and Kori, is like chatting with your best friends about Nancy Drew. You can find Regular Nancy Drew just about anywhere you can listen to podcasts. But I must warn you that just like your favourite Nancy Drew, it’s very addictive. My friend and fellow Nancy Drew fan, the talented author, Barbara Matteson, introduced me to this podcast three weeks ago and I’ve been listening to about one episode a day ever since. It is so good!

56 Weeks with Nancy Drew - The Whispering Statue - Part 2/2

Book 14

Welcome to the 56 Weeks with Nancy Drew series! If you are new here, welcome. You can find my introductory post to this series here. Please note I will be including plot spoilers in this review series. I explain my reasoning at the start of this post.

This discussion of The Whispering Statue is in two parts. You can find a link to Part One, here, where we discuss the plot of both the original text (OT) and revised text (RT). 

Now, let's pick up where we left off...

Bonkersness 

There is one bonkers scene in the RT… Okay. There are a few scenes that are fairly bonkers, but one that goes well beyond my suspension of disbelief… Nancy, Bess, and George are snooping in the storeroom of a shop when they hear someone coming.

    Instantly the young detective made a decision.

    Grabbing Bess and George by their arms, she pointed toward the empty portrait frames.

    "Pose!" Nancy whispered.

    The three girls stepped through the frames against the canvas. Each one kneeled and took a different pose. They assumed profile positions so they could not be identified easily if the intruder should happen to know them.

[…]

    The man began looking around and mumbling to himself. 

[…]

    In his search the newcomer suddenly lurched into Bess's frame. It fell over, striking Bess who also went down. Instantly the intruder realized that the person in the frame was alive!

    "Oh!" cried Bess.

    The man gave a deep grunt, then yanked Bess up from the floor. At the same instant Nancy and George leaped from their frames! (RT 110-112)

The girls quickly overpower him because he was "taken completely by surprise" (RT 113). Good thing all baddies in Nancy Drew books are incredibly dim-witted and unobservant. The crazy thing is, the girls almost get away with their disguise! 

As you may notice from the photo to follow, the illustration that goes along with the scene doesn’t do the writing any favours. From where the man in standing in the doorway he would see right down the back of the frames. The girls shouldn’t stand a chance in their silly efforts of disguise! As I said all baddies in these books are very dim, but what does it say about Nancy and her friends that they think pretending to be two dimensional objects would actually work? There are times in the RT Nancy Drews when Nancy seems to be closer to eight than eighteen. Although, I feel I’m doing a disservice to the intelligence of eight-year-olds in saying that! 

More dramatic and more believable?

The OT of this one is so over the top. But, somehow, it works! While it’s much more dramatic than the RT and some crazy things happen in this book, it stops just shy of being completely unbelievable. I think that’s why I’m enjoying the OT Nancy Drew books so much. Nancy has more of a devil-may-care attitude than in the RT, which makes for exciting reading. When this Nancy gets into a pickle I feel a lot less frustrated with her than I do when I’m reading an RT. In her efforts to help others and solve the mystery, the OT Nancy often rushes headlong into trouble and her nutty ideas of getting out of it seem just desperate enough to be believable, like this scene where she has just escaped a house where she has been kept captive and with the help of a sheet attempts to pass herself off as a statue.

    She wondered how much longer the storm would hold off. The tall trees near the place were waving wildly in the wind, and at any moment a limb might snap off and come crashing down. The site was a most dangerous one.

    Nancy stood hesitating an instant; then, with the wind tearing at her garments, she crossed the garden toward the Whispering Girl statue.

    Where three figures previously had stood, but two now remained.

[…]

    Nancy scarcely had time to hide. Wrapping the sheet tightly about her, she stepped up to the empty pedestal to become a living statue in the Whispering Girl group.

[…]

    With head bent low, Joe Mitza stumbled through the garden. He was muttering to himself, saying over and over that he had learned his lesson, and that never again would he be dishonest.

    Nancy had intended to frighten the fellow with another whispered warning. However, observing his nervous condition, she overcame the temptation and remained silent. The fellow cast a frightened glance at the Whispering Girl statue as he hastened by and went on down the road. (OT 196-199)

The scene in the RT where the three girls hide in frames is reminiscent of this one. There are a few reasons why I think this scene works where the other one fails: Nancy is pretending to be a statue and not a painting, she is outdoor at night as opposed to indoors in full daylight, and the baddie she is trying to fool is truly upset and distracted from some life-changing news he has just heard, while the baddie in the RT is just busy casing the joint. The other reason this scene from the OT works while the scene from the RT fails is because of the writing. 

Some of the writing in the RT Nancy Drews is shockingly bad. The plots have all the subtlety of a bull in a china shop and the dialogue is just plain moronic most of the time. But for me, the aspect that really suffers in this RT is the descriptions of settings. In the OT description is used to create atmospheric scenes where anything could happen. While in the RT they virtually skipped descriptions and setups to scenes and substitute them with liberally placed exclamation points. Take, for instance, the scene from the OT when Nancy visits Old Estate for the first time and sees “The Whispering Girl”.

    An ancient gate still barred the entrance to the winding private road which led to the house. As the young man pulled it open so that they might drive through, a loose board fell to the ground, making it impossible to close the barrier again. The road was dry but rutty, and a wild jungle of shrubs brushed against the car as it passed.

[…]

    The automobile rounded a bend and halted before a weather-beaten, rambling old house which was perched high above the sea. It stood at a rakish angle since one wing had no form of support at all. The water had cut a great tunnel beneath it.

    "Another season, and the house surely will topple into the sea," Jack declared, gazing about him with interest. "A lot of damage has been done since last I visited here."

    Toward the right lay what remained of a garden. There were a few scraggly rose bushes entangled among a jungle of weeds. Yet when the visitors came within view of the Whispering Girl statue, they halted and stared in awe, for the figure tended to dignify its unkempt surroundings.

    The marble piece was still imposing, though weatherbeaten and old. The group consisted of three sculptured figures; a life-sized likeness of a beautiful girl with flowing hair, on either side of which, at a little distance, stood a smaller statue. The central figure bore a startling resemblance to Nancy. (OT 68-69)

Even in daylight there is a feeling of foreboding as they approach the estate. This is a place in transition with a house that is teetering on the cliff edge, on the brink of being taken by the sea. Time is running out. If the daughter of the deceased owner isn’t found and brought to claim the property for her own soon, the house, and even the statue will be lost.

There isn’t a scene or setting in the RT to directly compare this to. I found aspects of this scene in three separate settings in the RT: the rutted drive of a derelict mansion the girls are brought to in a foiled kidnapping attempt, the statue at night outside of the yacht club where the girls are staying, and the overgrown garden at a property being used as an artist’s studio.

    The highway ran directly to the oceanfront. Here the driver turned left and drove for some distance. The area was uninhabited and the roads were heavy with sand. After a while the car went up a weed-choked driveway toward a large weather-beaten house. On the ocean side of it, sand dunes ran down to the water’s edge. (RT 24)

    The marble figure cast a broad shadow. There was something eerie about the scene with the beautiful young woman looking longingly in the direction of her Italian homeland. (RT 81)

    The front yard was filled with terra-cotta statues which stood amid high grass. Here and there a rosebud reared its head above an overgrown flower bed, and a few hollyhocks towered above the weeds. (RT 121)

In all of these scenes the bit of tension that is created is destroyed by a quick reassurance of safety. In the first scene the girls hop out of the car and outrun the men who are “past middle-age, heavy, and not so agile” (RT 26) then they double back and steal their car to drive to a phone to call the police (27). In the second, Nancy and Ned, who have been at a dance being held at the yacht club, go outside to see the statue. They think they hear the statue whispering, but shortly discover the voices are coming from a couple sitting behind the statue, the man proposing (81, 82). In the last instance, the girls talk to the artist, look at the statues on display, see someone coming and they scoot next door to have dinner at a “farmhouse [that] had been converted into a charming, old-fashioned dining room” (126).

To a certain extent the tension is softened in the OT, but not enough to clear the atmosphere. In the scene above when Nancy and her friends first see the statue, Bess comments that Mrs. Owen was right, Nancy could be its twin. Nancy’s response, “It makes me feel sort of creepy to see myself reflected in marble” (69). Moments later, Nancy asks everyone to listen.

    Everyone remained quiet for a moment. Save for the whistle of the wind in the pine boughs and the roar of the ocean, there was no other sound.

    “One can almost imagine that the statue is whispering now,” Nancy murmured.

    “It’s only the wind,” George Fayne said impatiently. 

    “Of course,” Nancy returned quickly, “and I hope you won’t think me superstitious, but I find the illusion almost perfect.” (OT 70)

George brings Nancy back down to earth, and while Nancy makes light of her flight of fancy, this only enhances the earlier tension. If logical-minded Nancy Drew is getting affected by the scene we know there is something about the derelict estate that is unsettling.

In conclusion

My plan was not to pick apart the RT, because I thought it was quite good, not great. But it didn’t put me to sleep or cause me to roll my eyes on every other page like the RT of The Mystery of the Hollow Oak did either. Even so, the RT of The Whispering Statue doesn’t compare to the quality of writing in the OT. My intention isn’t to pit the writers of these two editions against each other. Harriet Stratemeyer Adams writes simple sentences. Perhaps, it was thought that was all the children of the day were able to understand. Mildred A. Wirt manages to write a more sophisticated book without elevating the vocabulary to any great extent, rather, she varies it more, and her sentence structure is more complex.

As with many children’s books, both of these books have moments were one has to suspend their disbelief. However, these moments were a little harder to swallow in the RT. I found the incidents that were most unbelievable also made Nancy and her friends appear unintelligent. Nancy cannot be both a skilled detective and believe that hiding behind a frame will make her look like a painting. The two are mutually exclusive. 

The one problem I had with the OT was that I felt it was a bit slow to start. A lot was made of the dog, Togo, getting into trouble and taking Nancy along with him for the ride. He did enable Nancy to meet a character who becomes more important later, but Togo is all but forgotten once the group reaches Sea Cliff. Nancy leaves him at the hotel kennel and a few days go by before there is any mention of him at all. After that Togo isn’t mentioned again until the very end of the book, where he still doesn’t have any connection to the main plot. I am fairly sure Togo doesn’t feature in any of the other books in this series, but I will be on the lookout! (Through a bit of research online, I have discovered that Togo does appear in a number of the books in the Nancy Drew Diaries series. Although, I cannot directly attest to this, as I have not read any of the books in that series.)

Next up is book 15 in the series, The Haunted Bridge. See you in July!

56 Weeks with Nancy Drew - The Whispering Statue - Part 1/2

Book 14

Welcome to the 56 Weeks with Nancy Drew series! If you are new here, welcome. You can find my introductory post to this series here. Please note I will be including plot spoilers in this review series. I explain my reasoning at the start of this post.

I should add that this discussion of The Whispering Statue is in two parts. Part Two will go up tomorrow. Once it goes live, you will be able to find a link to it here.

Editions pictured: OT (25 chapters, 217 pages); RT (20 chapters, 179 pages)

OT publication date: 1937

My OT edition printed: approx. 1959-1961

RT publication date: 1970

My RT edition printed: approx. 1974

RT cover illustrated by: Rudy Nappi

Ghostwriter: Mildred A. Wirt Benson

Editors: Edna Stratemeyer Squier & Harriet Stratemeyer Adams

Revised by: Harriet Stratemeyer Adams

OT setting: River Heights & Sea Cliff (summer resort on Atlantic Coast)

RT setting: River Heights & Waterford (town on the coast)

Introduction

Since I have both books in my collection, I had the pleasure of reading the original text (OT) of The Whispering Statue and the revised text (RT). On the other occasion (The Message in the Hollow Oak OT, The Message in the Hollow Oak RT) where I had both editions I discussed each book in its own post. The RT diverged from the OT to such an extent that it would have been near impossible to compare them. While the OT and the RT of The Whispering Statue are quite different from each other, I believe they have enough in common that they can be discussed together. That’s my hope, anyway!

On the other occurrence when I had both the OT and the RT of a title, I read the OT first. But after reading the more sophisticated and — let’s just say it — better written OT, the RT was a slog to get through. I vowed not to make the same mistake a second time around, so when it came time to read The Whispering Statue I picked up the RT first. And you know what? It had the desired results! I had a fun time reading both books. Sure the OT was still better, as I expected it would be, but I didn’t have to force myself to finish the RT and I was able to appreciate that one for what it was without constantly comparing it to the OT. I believe this enabled me to look at both of these books more objectively and better appreciate their strengths without letting the weak points cast a dark cloud over my enjoyment of them!

The other thing I didn’t do this time is take notes while I was reading. This enabled me to get into these stories without all of the stopping and starting that detailed note taking entails. The one downside is that I didn’t have anything to refer back to after I had finished reading, which made this blog post a whole lot harder to write! If you have read any of my Nancy Drew posts before, you know that I usually start them off with a list of the shenanigans Nancy and her friends get up to, followed by how many meals were eaten, and any other interesting details. However, my not having taken notes while I was reading means I don’t have any of that information available to me. I hope you will forgive me for the unusually straightforward synopses to follow. 

RT Synopsis

Mrs. Merriam, a client of Nancy’s father, inherits a large collection of fine books from her uncle. She approaches Willis Basswood, the owner of an art gallery and bookshop in her town, and he agrees to sell the books for her, taking a fee of twenty-five percent from each sale. Some of the books sell for quite a bit of money and others for less as is to be expected. All is well, until Mr. Basswood stopped paying Mrs. Merriam. He explained it was because the books weren’t selling, but Mrs. Merriam suspects the man is selling the books and simply not paying her.

While Mrs. Merriam explains her problem to Nancy, masked men ambush the Drew home, and Nancy gets a threatening phone call with the message, “You tell Mrs. Merriam to shut up or she’ll get hurt and you people too!” (RT 4).

Soon Nancy is taking an assumed name and traveling in disguise to Waterford with friends Bess and George in tow. There they stay at the Waterford Yacht Club where there is another mystery surrounding a missing statue which is said to whisper and bears a distinct resemblance to none other than Nancy Drew.

The mysteries are linked — well, aren’t they always?! — and Nancy brings the baddies to justice with a lot of help from her friends. At one point she is entrapped in a sarcophagus and things would have quickly gone downhill if it wasn’t for the quick actions of Bess, George, Ned, and their new friend Dick.

OT Synopsis

Nancy goes to the opening ceremony of a new park in River Heights, where a lost bull-terrier adopts her, dragging Nancy into all sorts of trouble. The dog, soon to be named Togo, digs up freshly planted flower beds, chases a bevy of swans, and darts wildly at children. He takes a mislaid handbag, plunges into a lake, swims out a ways, and drops it in before paddling back to shore.

Through Togo’s excitable nature — see handbag incident above — Nancy meets Mrs. Owen, the honoured guest speaker of the event, and hears about a statue called “The Whispering Girl” that looks remarkably akin to Nancy, which just happens to be on display near Sea Cliff, a place she will soon be going on holiday. While the two are airing out the woman’s belongings — see Togo’s excitable nature above — Nancy happens to see in the woman’s possession a personal ad clipped from the newspaper. After some consideration, Nancy suspects Mrs. Owen of having a secret sorrow. 

Nancy, Bess, and George go on holiday to Sea Cliff resort. On the train, they see a shady individual preying on an older woman. Nancy warns the woman to be careful of the man, but the woman gives Nancy short shrift for her efforts. Later Nancy suspects the woman isn’t as soft a touch as she seems. There’s a mystery there!

In this one, Nancy and her friends save two men from a burning plane, reunite a man and wife, and stop some thieves from stealing a number of expensive sculptures. Nancy also finds the missing heiress of a crumbling estate, saves an elderly woman from a watery grave, and is rescued during a terrific storm from a most unseaworthy vessel.

Going forward

When I first set out to read one Nancy Drew and write a blog post per week I had no idea how time consuming it would be. It vaguely crossed my mind that for the titles I had both editions in I would then have to read both in one week, but I had so few in the OT that I didn’t think it would matter much. What I didn’t think about at all is my mood. The truth is, as much as I love Nancy Drew, there are a lot of other books that I want to be reading. Besides, there are a lot of other things I want to have time for outside of reading and writing about what I read. As the gaps have grown between posts has proven, a weekly turnaround simply isn’t attainable for me. 

In July and August I will be discussing one Nancy Drew title per month and then starting in September I plan to do two titles per month. Hopefully, this will free me up to do non-Nancy posts if the urge takes me. More importantly, I hope this will rekindle my excitement for this project. It’s hard to get enjoyment out of the process when you can practically hear the clock ticking! I hope you can all understand and aren’t secretly cursing me. 

Fingers crossed I’ll have more time to fine-tune my thoughts, and make my blog posts are little more succinct, so I can stop producing posts that grow so large that they need to be cut in half!

See you tomorrow where we will be talking about bonkersness, good writing, better writing, and the best way to disguise yourself as a work of art. I hope to see you then.