Girl Seluth

One of the series I very much enjoyed as a 9-12 year old was the Nancy Drew series. I must have read at least 80 of those books growing up.  I remember reading them until 2 or 3 in the morning (yep my insomnia started young) partly 'cause I loved to read and partly to finish the book 'cause on occasion they scared the daylights out of me.  I also remember on occasion reading the last page first, just to let myself know everything was going to be ok.  So in a fit of nostalgia (with my nephews at reading age I have been rereading a lot of my old favorites) and because I consider it a classic I got the first two Nancy Drew books in a handy little back to back all in one combo deal.  Nancy Drew and the Secret of the Old Clock/The Hidden Staircase.  The following contains a light on details synopsis for each book and of course SPOILERS!

In the first book The Secret of the Old Clock we meet our titan haired heroine (or strawberry blond depending on which version you read) Nancy Drew.  This spunky young woman is the apple of her lawyer fathers eye and the beloved charge of the long time house keeper Hannah Gruen who has watched over the household since Mrs. Drew died years ago. She drives a blue convertible and is always dressed at the height of practical fashion.  She is smart, generous, kind, a good daughter, and fiercely independent.  This is pretty much how she is described in the opening scene in just about every book. Our leading lady rescues a small girl from being hit by a car, and finds out that her elderly great aunts have been robbed and left pennyless.
 Nancy is told that the women thought they were to receive money from an old family friend Josiah Crowley, but finds out all the money went to his rich entitled relatives. This intrigues Nancy and she vows to find out what happened.  Along the way she meets other poor unfortunate souls who are also in dire need of the money Josiah promised them. Hijinx and shenanigans ensue.  After a few frustrating dead ends our girl finally captures her suspects, finds the real will and all the sweet yet poor souls finally get some cash.  In the second book The Hidden Staircase our lovely girl detective is contacted by one of her many friends to come solve the mystery of the ghostly happenings at Twin Elms manor, an old family home that dates back to Colonial times. Along with this mystery is the problem her dad is facing trying to find an owner who has sold his property to the railroad and is now holding out for more money.  Nancy goes to the old house with her friend to investigate and many mysterious things happen.  At some point Nancy's father goes missing and is presumed kidnapped.  Nancy tries to work on both cases at once, eventually realizing they are connected somehow. Eventually hidden passages are found, bad guys are caught, dads are rescued, and sweet elderly Miss Flora is able to live out her days in peace in the old family home.
Upon rereading these books I am struck by many things.  First off, I can't believe how scared these books with the "ghosts" always made me, even then I knew it was never going to be a real ghost, but a flesh and blood bad guy...but I still was scared. Second, these books are a much quicker read then I remember.

Third, now I remember that almost all of the Nancy Drew stories follow the same basic formula, two seemingly unrelated mysteries come together to form a bit of a far fetched solution to a problem brought to her by one of her zillions of friends and/or family, this of course following a frustrating search for clues, a revelation, a harrowing escape/hiding from the bad guys, followed by a neat bow tied ending for everybody. Fourth keeping in mind that these first books were written and set in the 1930's I can't decide if Nancy is a daring female breaking out of the strict mold set for young ladies of her time, or a uber privileged white girl who can't help but meddle in the affairs of others.  I actually very much like the mix of Ms. Drew, one moment she is trying on a beautiful frilly dress for the club social dance and twenty minutes later she is tramping through mud and hiding in cobwebby closets to eavesdrop on the bad guy.   This is actually the type of hero/heroine I like best, one that does not feel that they have to be all of one thing, now Nancy is a bit to perfect for my taste, but at least she is as willing to take down a bad guy as she is to go to a club function. She does morph a bit throughout the years, considering that she has been in stories from the 1930s all the to the present one would hope she would modernize a bit.  That being said, I have to say I love the older stories the best.  I love reading about the clothes, the lack of internet, the food, the places, the weird niceties that seem so utterly ridiculous now.  All in all I enjoyed my time with Nancy Drew and am going to pick up the next couple of books next time I am at the book store...I think I will dedicate a shelf to this series.  Happy Reading Everybody!

What series do you remember from your childhood?  Does a book written in a different era excuse certain attitudes? Am I crazy to dedicate shelf space I don't have?