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Type of bind: Hardcover
EAN num: 9780448095172
ISBN number: 0448095173
Label: Grosset & Dunlap
Manufacturer: Grosset & Dunlap
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 192
Printing Date: February 01, 1940
Publishing house: Grosset & Dunlap
Age index: Ages 9-12
Sale Popularity Level: 51313
Studio: Grosset & Dunlap
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Product Description:
A trunk that Nancy receives from her father for a trip to Buenos Aires becomes the center of a mystery.
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Rated by buyers 
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I read a a fair number of Hardy Boys novels growing up, but I only recall reading one Nancy Drew mystery. There was a fairly well-defined gender line back in those days, although I eventually read and really enjoyed quite a number of "girl" books in other genres.
So recently, while researching for a character in the series of detective stories that I write, I decided that the character had been a Nancy Drew fan as a girl. I wanted to get a better sense of the books, so I headed down to the lower school library at the school where I work and borrowed The Mystery of the Brass Bound Trunk.
Nancy Drew is credited to Carolyn Keene, a pseudonym for a whole succession of ghostwriters. According to a very comprehesive Wikipedia entry, this particular mystery was plotted and edited by Harriet S. Adams, the daughter of the original creator, Edward Stratemeyer. Stratemeyer plotted the very first four books, but died before they were published. The Mystery of the Brass Bound Trunk was written by Mildred A. Wirt from Ms. Adams' outline.
The Nancy Drew mysteries have been revised and updated starting in the late 1950's, but I was very pleased to find that the edition in my school library was the original 1940 printing. This earlier printing has 25 chapters, as compared with the standard 20 in current editions of Nancy Drew.
The story has Nancy and loyal "chums" (is it just me, or are the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew books the only places where this word means something other than shark bait?), Bess Marvin and George Fayne, preparing for a steamship cruise to South America. Awkward, tomboyish George and girly panicky Bess are Nancy's loyal friends and sleuthing-partners throughout the series.
Long before their ship sets sail, the girls find themselves caught up in a series of intriques involving several passengers booked on the ship. There are also recurring problems involving the new brass-hinged steamer trunk that Nancy's father has bought for her. In fact, as it turns out there are two identical trunks, and that is just the beginning of the mistaken identities in this story.
To my surprise and amusement, I discovered that this book is not so much as mystery as a Shakespearean comedy, complete with the requisite matchmaking and even a young woman disguised in male garb. Plot-wise there is plenty of complexity here, both in terms of the mystery elements and the romantic subplots. Several of the secondary characters are fairly interesting.
Nancy herself, of course, comes off as nearly infallible. Any doubts that she has about her own capablities are fleeting, and she takes every setback in stride. Her companions don't show much depth of character, existing mostly by virtue of their contrast with each other.
That being said, I enjoyed the friendship, loyalty, and courage displayed by the main characters.
Readers might find these books sexist when compared to more recent works featuring female characters, and there are certainly some chauvanistic elements (the characters obsess over clothes to the point where the loss of a steamer trunk leaving that character with "Nothing to wear!" is treated as pretty serious peril), but didn't find it to be excessive. When it comes down to it here, these young ladies are portrayed as being competent, independent, and intelligent.
The girls even get a fight scene, one that they initiate! Okay, it's so brief as to barely count (and our heroines get trounced), but it was more than I was expecting. Most of the action, of course, is on the social front, and some of Nancy's most revealing moments come with the social dilemnas she faces.
More disturbing was the emphasis on wealth that permeates the book. Nancy and her friend are rich, and this is presented as the norm. Their world seems to have almost no place for the poor or even the middle class (there is a very brief encounter with some stereotypical street urchins on the streets of Buenos Aires, but it is almost completely glossed over).
The story concludes in a bit of an anticlimactic fashion, as there is no final direct confrontation between Nancy and the villains, and proceeds to the Shakespearian wrapping up of the various identy mix-ups and romantic entanglements.
In general, I found the plot to be stronger than the writing, which is stilted in clumsy on a sentence-to-sentence basis. Considering the wealth of setting and characters presented in the scenario, the descriptions are bland, and the prose overly simple. The writing here is just not all that good.
Still, I enjoyed this more than I expected to. Definitely worth the read for a quick dose of nostalgic fun.
Rated by buyers 
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Nancy Drew is a detective who is going on a cruise,Nancy and her friends Bess and George think that they are the only ones sharing there cabin but it turns out that they also have to share a room with an African girl named Helen. Helen says that she was acused of being a jewel theif and asks if Nancy and her friends Bess and George can help her solve the mystery.Can Nancy solve the mystery or is the Helen leading Nancy into a trap? To find out read Nancy Drew and the mystery of the brass bound trunk!
Rated by buyers -
Her book was excellent as well as the rest of the series. in the beginning nancy drew recieved a false trunk but looked the same as her own. she finally deciphered that this trunk had gold and silver in it that was stolen from a shop. once again nancy drew figured out another diffucult mystery
Rated by buyers 
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Of course, every detective needs a day off of sluething! So naturally, Nancy decides to go on a cruise with her fellow detectives, Goerge Fayne and Bess Marvin. While boarding the ship, Nancy notices a man on the pier spell out her name saying 'Beware of Nancy Drew and Ne' but did not see the rest. As she goes to her cabin, she finds Nelda Detwieler in the cabin too. At first, Nancy distrusts the native girl. Then Nelda tells Nancy of what happened to her, and mysterious things happen when a mysterious trunk is delivered to their cabin that is identicle to Nancy's but is not hers.
I think this book is very good and I highly recomend it so that if you go on a cruise and your trunk is not delivered but someone elses and a desparete girl with an amazing story is set in your cabin, you now what to do!
Rated by buyers -
This review concerns the original 1940 edition. The trunk which Nancy takes with her on a cruise to South America, along with a similar trunk owned by another passenger, appear to be at the center of a mystery. This book was alright, but I found that it really didn't have a mystery to it until the last few chapters. The very first part of the book concentrates on the efforts of the mother of one passengers to keep Nancy from sailing. Ultimately, the mystery is somewhat dull and predictable and the book lacks much action. The book is probably worth reading, but I doubt that it will be one of many people's favorites.
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