This post is part of the Nancy Drew Review Project; visit the project index here.
Mildred Wirt Benson returns! The Clue of the Broken Locket is the eleventh of the classic Nancy Drew Mysteries, and the 1934 original text marks the return of Wirt Benson as the series’ ghostwriter after her three-book hiatus in 1933. In 1965, the book was reissued with an entirely new plot.
And when I say “entirely new plot” I do mean entirely new. Both the original text and revised text have a broken locket (obviously) and some long-lost family members. But that’s it.
1934 Original Text
So on one hand, I’m really glad that Wirt Benson started writing the series again! (During the Depression, the Syndicate lowered its per-book rate, and Wirt Benson decided she’d rather spend her efforts writing for reasonable pay. I support it.) Anyhoo. Obviously, Wirt Benson essentially created the Nancy Drew character, whom readers then adopted and turned into a cultural symbol. So it’s nice to have her back, even if she may/may not have been muzzled by the Syndicate to a certain extent.
On the other hand, the plot of The Clue of the Broken Locket itself is…strange. Basically, two feckless celebrities decide to adopt 18-month-old twins as a publicity stunt, with plans to train them as an onstage act and exploit their talents. Nancy’s father is the attorney responsible for handling the adoption papers, but he confides to Nancy that although his hands are tied from an ethical standpoint, he’s not really comfortable with his clients’ apparent lack of parenting skills. That puts Nancy on the case!
What follows is then a sort of…odd book that sees Nancy and Bess spend a lot of time babysitting the kids in the early chapters. Maternal Nancy was not something I ever expected to see. I also never expected to see the Drews’ housekeeper, who is traditionally described as a “motherly figure” in Nancy’s life, be absolutely against the babies. Like…Hannah Gruen is really not down for those toddlers. At all.
Eventually, Nancy tracks down the twins’ biological mother by following the “clue of the broken locket” which was left with the kids when they were taken to the orphanage. Nancy also reunites an adult pair of twins who were tragically separated, and to be honest…that just seemed like one too many sets of twin reunions for me.
Like I said, the original text is weird. It’s certainly well-written and entertaining, and I enjoyed seeing where things were going. Too many twins, though.
1965 Revised Text
I am not really sure why the authors rewrote the entire book during the series overhaul process. Seriously…why tho? There’s nothing wrong with the original text, in my opinion. There’s no racist content that needs to be cleaned up, and unlike, say, the original text of book #5, The Secret at Shadow Ranch, the vibe of the mystery still fits in with the more modern series’ tone.
But, y’know…I guess the Syndicate felt that what Nancy really needed was a viral 60s pop star?
In the revised text, Nancy travels to Maryland with Bess and George to bring the keys to a lake house to a vacationer who’s renting out the property of one of Carson Drew’s clients. (No, I have no idea why Nancy & Company had to drive all the way from Iowa to Maryland to deliver a set of keys, please just roll with it.) Apparently, the residents of the lake have recently been spooked by the ghostly apparition of a boat on the water. But Nancy’s not scared!
Eventually, the girls run into Cecily, who’s renting the lake house. Cecily is searching for a long-lost family treasure, and she thinks it might be at a huge stone mansion nearby. Weirdly, Nancy runs into somebody who looks exactly like Cecily a couple of times? Oh, and Cecily is engaged to a very popular pop singer, and the girls go to his concert and are mobbed, etc.
The resolution to the revised text involves: long-lost cousins, pirated music, and amnesia.
In my opinion, there’s nothing wrong with the revised text…but then there was nothing wrong with the original text, either. The inclusion of the pop music element definitely gives the story a more “modern” feel, but at least the updated story doesn’t include wacky things like secret submarines or exploding oranges or rooms full of boiling water. (Yes, these are things that happen in revised text Nancy Drew novels, don’t ask questions). The revised text is written in a style that’s consistent with the series overall, and it was fun to have Bess, George, Ned, and the boys all working together to figure out WTF is happening at the stone mansion.
Verdict
I enjoyed both the original text and the revised text. And actually, it’s a bit tough to compare the two, since the plots are nothing alike. I don’t believe there are any flaws with either book, it’s just a matter of taste. Do you like Nancy babysitting abused twins, or do you like Nancy attending a pop concert?
Although it’s a tough call, I think I’m going to say that I prefer the revised text, only because the “spooky apparition,” the mysterious mansion, and the hidden treasure are all more trademark Nancy Drew elements than babies with mysterious parentage.
[Disclaimer: cover art scans are from this site.]
