Behind the Story: Nancy Drew

Get to know the author(s) of one of your favorite childhood book series

Cover of Nancy Drew book, The Secret of the Old Clock

I love a good mystery—and I think I can trace that love to Nancy Drew novels. As a kid, I devoured as many Nancy Drew books as I could get my hands on, picking them up at the local library and even reading some more modern takes that included crossovers with the Hardy Boys. (I mean, I sort of always hoped that Frank and Nancy would one day fall in love!)

But the story behind the Nancy Drew mystery series has a few unexpected twists and turns of its own, so we’re uncovering a little bit of that mystery today.

Where did the idea come from?

The idea for the Nancy Drew series was conceived by Edward Stratemeyer. Stratemeyer owned Stratemeyer Syndicate, a company that specialized in creating book series and selling the idea to publishers, and he saw a market for books aimed at children. Stratemeyer would develop the idea and outline a book (often in exacting detail) and then enlist a ghostwriter to write the story. Stratemeyer outlined the first three books in the Nancy Drew series, then passed away. After his death, his daughters, Harriet Stratemeyer Adams and Edna Stratemeyer Squier, took over outlining the stories.

Who is Carolyn Keene?

Pick up a Nancy Drew mystery to this day—The Hidden Staircase, The Mystery at Lilac Inn—and Carolyn Keene will be listed as the author. But as it turns out, there was no Carolyn Keene! Instead, the name is a pseudonym used by a number of writers who have churned out the mysteries over the years. The first “Carolyn Keene” was a writer named Mildred Wirt Benson, who had gained Stratemeyer’s attention when she answered an ad looking for ghostwriters in 1926 when she was 21 years old. Benson wrote the first Nancy Drew installment when she was 24. After graduating from the University of Iowa with a bachelor’s degree in 1925, Benson was the first person to earn a master’s in journalism from the University of Iowa. Benson wrote 23 of the first 30 books in the series.

Harriet Stratemeyer Adams was also one of the most prolific Carolyn Keenes, outlining the ideas for most of the novels in the series and taking over primary authorship around 1950. Adams wrote about 26 of the Nancy Drew books, rewrote another eight and maintained editorial control over the entire series. Most scholars credit Benson for creating the smart, sassy Nancy and establishing her voice and personality, but it was Adams who refined and defined it.

Why do the Nancy Drew novels seem so timeless?

The Nancy Drew series got its start as the nation was plunging into the Great Depression, but you’d never know it from the books! While the series spanned wars and tragedies, these events pass largely unnoticed in the novels. The Stratemeyer Syndicate saw the books as an escape for children from the chaos of the world, so the writers strived to keep the focus on Nancy, a smart, modern young woman with a wildly interesting life. Adams also wanted the books to contain some educational content, so stories might feature “lectures on Ming pottery, rocket manufacture or Nazcan site lines in Peru” (New York Times). While the settings can seem a little dated, readers across the generations seem to still love dipping into the stories.

There are 56 books in the original Nancy Drew series—and countless more spin-offs, including TV shows, books and movies. Why not enjoy a little escape today?

stack of books on a table with the bottom edge of books facing out

Sources consulted for this article include:

“The Tale of a Ghostwriter.” University of Iowa Archives
Annika Barranti Klein. “Carolyn Keene And The Mystery Of The Real Nancy Drew Author,” Book Riot.
“The Secret Syndicate behind Nancy Drew,” JSTOR Daily.
Susan Chira, “Harriet Adams Dies; Nancy Drew Author Wrote 200 Novels,” New York Times.
Jennifer Fisher, Zócalo Public Square, “The Adventurous Writer Who Brought Nancy Drew To Life,” Smithsonian Magazine.