Nancy Drew Mystery Stories #21 - The Secret in the Old Attic (Original Text)

We now come to the 21st book in the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories, first published in 1944.  Now, those who have been reading this blog may say, "Wait, you already reviewed this book back in 2020," and you'd be wrong. I did review a version of this book (The Secret in the Old Attic - Revised Text), but that was the 1970 revision of this story, which was written by Priscilla Baker-Carr.  This time around, I read the original 1944 version of the story, and with this read, I was looking beyond the surface of the story to see just what its author, Mildred Wirt (Benson) had to offer.  As one of my fellow book-club members observed, this original text version very much feels like a book-end to the previous story, The Clue in the Jewel Box (OT 1943).  Of course, once you read both books, you'll have to be the judge of that yourself!

The Secret in the Old Attic is based on an outline by Harriet Stratemeyer Adams, and like the revised version, the story centers around some stolen songs, as well as a stolen formula.  This  original tale, however, also plays more into a romantic element that does not feature so much in the revised.  This part of the tale begins at the end of the first chapter, where the point of view switches from Nancy Drew to an unspecified girl ho intercepts a telegram meant for Nancy (p. 8).  From here, the reader learns that Nancy is unaware of a dance coming up at Emerson College, somewhat disheartened that Ned had not asked her yet.  Instead, we get introduced to Horace Lally, a senior at Emerson who asks Nancy to go with him (p. 11).  Poor Horace is described as conceited, so Nancy declines his invitation.  But Horace is not one to give up easily!  He makes more efforts several times in the story (p. 32 and p. 105), going so far as to hint that there is going to be a special announcement at the dance that she will not want to miss (p. 32)!  

 

Running alongside this part of the story is that of Diane Dight, the daughter of a man Carson is investigating (and who he asks Nancy to investigate as well) - she is said to have gone to school with Nancy, but is a little older, and she is described as "spoiled and willful, but attractive looking" (p. 55).  Later in the story, Nancy is shocked to find Diane reading a letter from ... well, no, that would be telling (and since Wirt didn't reveal it in the story at this point, why would I spoil it here?), and it leaves Nancy in a real quandry.  By the end of the story (okay, here comes the big spoilers!), readers learn that Diane intercepted the telegram, which was from Ned, sent him a fake one so that she could trick him into inviting her to the dance instead (pp. 207-08).  Along the way, we also learn that Horace Lally and Diane Dight are cousins (p. 122) - now if that isn't a big coincidence!  While Wirt never actually has Nancy come out and say it, her actions in the story make it clear her heart is torn over the fact that Ned had not invited her to the dance.

Oh, and did I mention that on the second page of the story, Carson is thinking about his daughter, knowing that "some day Nancy would probably marry and leave him..." (p. 2).  I think this is the first, and probably only, time that I've ever actually seen Mr. Drew consider his daughter's future and that she would marry, settle down, and no longer be a constant in his home.  This pondering (along with the rest of the paragraph) are completely omitted in the revised text.  In fact, the entire subplot with Diane and Horace was removed when the text was revised, so readers miss out on the romantic entanglements and confusion of Nancy and Ned and Diane and Horace!

Now, comparing the original with the revised - while the revised maintains some of the Gothic elements, the writing of the original is definitely stronger with the spookier mood associated with Gothic.  The very description of Pleasant Hedges brings to mind the old, worn mansions one would expect to find in traditional Gothic tales:

[the] house was a rambling structure, partly covered with vines. There was a stone section at one end, but the rest was built of clapboards, now badly weatherbeaten.  A loose shutter swung back and forth, creaking on its rusty hinges... (pp. 15-16)

One can easily picture the scene and hear the shutter as the wind moved it back and forth, the eerie squeak resounding through the house as it did.  And the ending of Chapter II, with the bat flying through the window directly at Bess, while Mr. March cries out from somewhere down below in the house (p. 21) would frighten any young reader.  There's also the baby cradle rocking in the empty attic (p. 38), the thunderstorm with the loud crash, causing Nancy to lose her balance (p. 40), the long bony arm reaching out towards Nancy's throat (p. 49), the shadow that seems to come alive (p. 106), the hidden room in the attic (p. 177), the description of the strong wind that rattled the windows ... the train whistle in the distance ... the mournful wail (p. 187), and even the strong uneasiness that comes over Nancy while she sits in the darkened house (p. 188) - there's even a reference to the clock chiming at the "witching" hour (p. 194) and the flickering candle that reveals a giant shadow coming up behind Nancy (p. 196).  This does not even take into account the ongoing themes of spiders, empty attics, lost loves, hidden passages, and the trapped female, waiting for certain death (p. 200).  All of these things, when combined, manage to create an eerie, frightening atmosphere that sets the reader's heart racing, leaving the reader to wonder exactly what is going to happen next.  This is probably some of Wirt's best writing when it comes to Gothic tropes.

As with a number of the original text stories, I did manage to learn a few new things from the book.  A "bandbox" (p. 20) is an old fashioned cardboard box, usually circular, that was used to store and carry ladies' hats.  I had always heard them referred to simply as "hatboxes," but apparently "bandbox" was a term used back when this book was written.  I also learned that "jumping spiders" and "flying spiders" (p. 79) are apparently very real!  Not something I really want to think about, that's for sure.  And Nancy's tale about "King Bruce of Scotland..." (p. 126) that Nancy reveals involves a spider that ultimately results in the saving of a kingdom (p. 131) is actually based on a factual story - "Robert the Bruce" was Scotland's outlaw king (actor Chris Pine played him in a Netflix film about that character), and legend has it while Bruce was hiding in a cave, he watched a spider trying to build a web, climbing, falling, climbing again, falling again, repeating this process over and over until the web was built - and from this, Bruce allegedly realized "if at first you don't succeed, try, try again," which led him to ultimately defeat the English at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, despite being outnumbered!  Wirt (or Adams) managed to work in some real history for readers to discover.

 

There is also reference to a "Princess Mary tin" (p. 71), which was a real thing back n 1914, Princess Mary wanted to do something for the men in the armed forces, so the 17-year old princess launched an appeal to ensure every serviceman received a gift for Christmas that year, and the gift turned out to be tin boxes containing various things, each decorated with an image of Mary and/or other military and imperial symbols.  And in Old Attic, Mr. March reveals to Nancy that his life was saved from a bullet by a book that he had in his pocket at the time (p. 154); why I mention this is because there is a true story of a young private who, in 1915, happened to be carrying a Princess Mary tin in his breast pocket, and a German bullet aimed at his heart was stopped by the tin container, thus saving his life (Princess Mary Tin Saves a Life)!  Now that, my friends, is much more than a coincidence (apparently Wirt, or even Adams, who wrote the outline, was aware of this tale and managed to insert a version of it into this book!).

And beyond all of this, there is a casual reference to the fact that  "old lace" was originally made by fisherman to catch fish (p. 136).  Turns out this is not far from the truth, as there are romantic tales that date back centuries ago about a woman engaged to marry an Adriatic fisherman, and he gave her a fish net interlaced with a web of seaweed - when her fiance left for war, the woman studied the weave of the net and reproduced its pattern, creating the lace so beautifully woven into ladies' (and men's!) clothing.  Of course, there are a number of other tales of how lace was originally created as well, so it's all subject to investigation (but, of course, all the Besses out there are going to love the romantic element of this origin story!).

One final thing I want to mention, and I don't recall this being the case in the revised text - but there are quite a number of shifts in the point of view throughout this book.  As indicated above, the POV changes at the end of the first chapter, when the unnamed girl intercepts Ned's telegram.  This same POV comes into play again on pages 45-46, where the same unnamed girl worries that Nancy will uncover what she did.  On page 80, the POV shifts from Nancy to Bess and George, as the two cousins reminisce about the time Nancy was elected queen at a previous Emerson Dance (Missing Map, perhaps?).  The biggest switch in point of view, however, occurs with Chapter 12 - THE ENTIRE CHAPTER is told from other characters' points of view - from Mr. Dight, to Hannah, to Horace Lally, to Effie, to Mr. March, and eventually to our villain, Bushy Trott!  Near the end, we get one final POV change, on page 193, when an assailant attacks Mr. March outside his house and leaves him unconscious.  I honestly do not recall ever reading so many pages/chapters told from points of view other than Nancy in one book!

I would say this book does read better than the revised text, and even the revised version is not bad.  There is still so much more that could be discussed about this one - the reference to Tin Pan Alley, the small piano desk that held such valuable secrets, the hidden room in the attic, the number of connections between this book and The Clue in the Jewel Box, the old bottles with George Washington's and Dolly Madison's faces, the description of how rayon is processed, and so much more.  And, probably most of all, I should at least make mention of fact that the original cover art, by Russell Tandy, is still around and is currently owned by a collector in St. Petersburg, Florida!  

If you like spooky tales, then this is the one for you!

RATING:   9 old Currier & Ives prints out of 10 for weaving a frightfully good tale of mystery and romance worthy of the Gothic writers of the past!