Nancy Drew and the mystery of girl power

My mother-in-law seemed slightly uncomfortable when she told me what she’d bought for my two young daughters, her only grandchildren.

“It’s Nancy Drew,” she said, avoiding eye contact. “I hope that’s OK.”

We both looked toward her bag, inside of which rested not just one Nancy Drew book but a set, the first five mysteries in the series – or at least the 1950s version of it. Nancy has had a number of iterations over the years. 

I tried to