This book is about the history of Nancy Drew from the time before her creation on up through around 2005. It covers the publishing company that not only brought Nancy Drew to life but also did a variety of other series such as the Dana Girls.
It's a complex history, involving not only the people involved but the social and economic conditions going on. The crash of the stock market had its effects, as well as societal expectations of women and women who wanted to break those expectations. The book explains the publishing business itself, noting how outlines were sent to writers and how the people at the syndicate edited those manuscripts, along with the types of notes they sent to the writers.
It also covers intra-family problems with those who were heading the syndicate after the death of their father who had been the head. It traces the history of the Nancy Drew books through their origin on through the revision of the first 34, and on through movie and TV adoptions and other related series of Nancy Drew books.
To me the strong point of the book is how the Nancy Drew story involved what was going on in society at the time and how Nancy was changed slightly to accommodate those changes in society. A very interesting book indeed.
There are aspects of big business and the willingness to lie on the part of people heading that business that does bother me, though, especially when it involves taking credit for things that the person simply did not write.
Main Index
Yadult Index
Nancy Drew Main Page
