Nancy Drew: 86 and still inspiring

by Isuri Kaviratne

Nancy Drew has grown old. The famous book series of three girl detectives solving crimes inspired many young girls around the world to be independent, confident and strong, marked its 86th anniversary last week.

First published in 1930, the first book that hit the stalls was the Secret of the Old Cloak.

Nancy Drew books went through several phases with each new book series introduced, each new movie or TV adaptation was broadcast, but the books that continued its publication till 2004 never lost its charm among teenagers all around the world.

The latest version of the books is called The Nancy Drew Diaries, featuring Nancy Drew in the modern world, for the teens of the day. However, the earlier book series are yet to be taken away from the bookshops.

Before becoming modern, in the first series, Nancy and her friends are portrayed as 16-year-old amateur crime solvers and in later series they are presented as 18-year-old high school graduates and detectives. At least 80 million copies of the book have been sold worldwide and translated into 45 languages. After eight decades of character evolution in books, five movies, two TV shows and several popular computer games, Nancy Drew still inspires young girls around the world as it did with its initial publication in 1930s.

The Nancy Drew series had become an instant hit as soon as it was published.

The story was conceptualised by Edward Stratemeyer who created the Hardy Boys book series in 1926 and it was already famous among the young teenagers.

Though Stratemeyer is said to have believed that a woman's place is at home, having seen young girls' enthusiasm to read the Hardy Boys series, he had created the story of three young girls solving crimes.

What many don't know is that the author, Carolyn Keene was a pen name and over time, many authors have written stories of Nancy Drew as ghostwriters.

Nancy, a girl sleuth, teen detective, a mythical heroine still inspires young girls to reach out to their dreams and achieve the impossible.