Plump Bess

While I was on my vacation (Insert irritating "Spring Break <3" slang here), I got sick. I couldn't tell you what from, but it probably sprouted from eating far too much at the meals, lounging on various chairs reading anything I could get my hands on, even The Clue of the Leaning Chimney  featuring everybody's favorite sleuth, and avoiding physical activity like the plague. So, I was stranded on my foldout all day while I watched Law & Order: SVU, finished Jane Eyre and read Agatha Christie's Thirteen at Dinner, and some good ol' Nancy Drew. It was a day of mysteries.
My copy looks like this:

Reading this sparked some fond memories of sleuthing alongside homegirl Nancy.
Remarkably, Carolyn Keene's famed mystery novels provide some interesting commentary on the standards placed on women during the time of this book's publication.
This comes from the first page:
"Oh, Nancy, this road is so lonely! And here we are with all this money. It'd be awful if it were stolen!"
     Bess Marvin gripped the purse in her lap a bit more tightly and peered nervously through the windshield of the convertible.
     A dark forest flowed past the car on either side of the road. Black clouds were gathering in the night sky, and the wind whispered dismally through the swaying trees.
     The pretty, somewhat plump girl shivered slightly and sat a little closer to Nancy.
      "It's--it's almost spooky," she added in a hushed voice.
      "Cheer up, Bess," comforted the slim, golden-haired driver. "We'll soon be home."

This is despicable. Not only does she refer to Bess as "somewhat plump", but a few lines later, she describes Nancy as "slim" and "golden-haired".
I'm not saying that Bess should have ended up overcoming her fears of lonely roads and being mugged and solved the mystery, but couldn't Bess have had at least one redeemable quality? There is a time later along in the plot after the pair have survived the lonely road where, at a birthday party, Bess whispers to Nancy about being excited about the cake she sees across the room. I mean, come on. She even has a name that reminds me of cows.
Now, to be fair, this book was published in 1949. Harry S. Truman was in office and the first Volkswagen Beetle was delivered to the U.S. on January 17. So, it was a while ago.

I'm still a little peeved.