Literature - Nancy Drew

1. Nancy Drew and the Legend of the Girl Sleuth

Nancy Drew is an 18-year-old girl who lives with her father, criminal defense attorney Carson Drew and the housekeeper, Hannah Gruen. Her mother died when she was three years old.

They live in a three-storey brick house in the fictional town of River Heights, which is supposed to be in or near Ohio, a one-hour drive to Chicago.

Her best friends are George Fayne and Bess Marvin, who are cousins, but they don't resemble each other. George is tall and slim, with short black hair; she is a kind of tomboy, who prefers to be called George rather than her real name, Georgia. Bess is right the opposite: blond, slightly plump and good-looking, interested in fashion, boys and food.

Ned Nickerson is Nancy's boyfriend. He's got dark brown wavy hair and brown eyes. Ned is an excellent athlete and practices all kinds of sports. He plays a minor role and in many stories he doesn't even appear.

Nancy maintains an active social life, volunteering and participating in athletics and the arts, as well as sleuthing. She is supposed to have finished her high school education, but is never shown working for a living or acquiring job skills.

Nancy is blue-eyed and reddish-blond. She wears conservative and classy clothing and she is not interested in fashion. She is more courageous than her friends and becomes involved in mysteries without always being a welcome presence. She travels to the place where she is needed, not only within the United States but also to international destinations, such as France, India, Tahiti, Peru, Scotland, Hong Kong, etc., where she goes through exotic adventures.

Nancy's got a car, which she occasionally needs to drive at high speed to escape villains. It gives her independence and mobility. Not only is she a superb driver, but she can also change a tire and make repairs, or move obstacles out of the car's path.

Nancy is smart, mature and cool, being sometimes impulsive and flippant. As it is said in Nancy Drew Sleuth , "Nancy was the embodiment of independence, pluck and intelligence, and that was what many little girls craved to be like and emulate."

She encounters danger in every book, but Nancy will always solve the mystery and restore order. She finds clues and then she uses her wits to interpret them in order to solve the mystery. It doesn't matter if her life is at risk, she will do whatever is necessary to catch the villain, who sometimes is near to death and Nancy saves. Other times, it is the villain who traps her in a closet, bedroom, tower or any other place, and she's got to use her amazing resources to get out, often without having to be rescued.

She's bold and independent, she is permitted to do whatever she pleases and go wherever she desires, her only concern being the mysteries she pursues. She is well mannered, strong, independent, intelligent, smartly dressed. Nancy Drew is perfect!