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| Front cover of my copy |
At the end of November, I finished this book, The Message in the Hollow Oak, by Carolyn Keene, one (#12) of the Nancy Drew mystery series. I recently purchased my copy at a used book sale for a couple dollars. It has an inscription at the front: "To Dorothy, from Margaret S. Xmas 12/25/47." On the front endpaper, Dorothy's name is scratched out and underneath it is another name, also scratched out but appears to be "Elizabeth."
The volume I have is copyright 1935 by Grosset & Dunlap Publishers of New York. One guide I found indicates that my copy was likely printed in 1946 on war-time (WWII) paper. Indeed, the paper is now yellow and fragile. My copy has only one illustration (by R.H. Tandy) at the frontispiece. Alas, my copy did not have its original dust jacket.
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| The sole illustration in my volume. Frontispiece |
The story involves Nancy traveling to Canada to investigate a piece of property she won in a contest. Supposedly worthless, things begin to heat up when rumors of gold start to fly. I was surprised to encounter some violence in this book when a man is shot; a spectacular train crash also figures in the mystery.
The book has 218 pages, divided into XXV (25) chapters. Most of the chapters are structured to have a cliffhanger at the end.
Like all the Nancy Drew books I've read, these are fun to read and difficult to put down.
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