The Hidden Staircase

The Hidden Staircase
Author(s)	Carolyn Keene
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	Nancy Drew Mystery Stories
Genre(s)	Juvenile literature
Publisher	Grosset & Dunlap
Publication date	1930
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
ISBN	0-448-09502-5
OCLC Number	17335741
Preceded by	The Secret of the Old Clock
Followed by	The Bungalow Mystery

The Hidden Staircase is the second volume in the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories series written under the pseudonym Carolyn Keene, and published in 1930. Unofficial statistics indicate it to be one of the favorite stories of Nancy Drew readers.

As of 2001, it was ranked number 68 on a list of the all-time best-selling hardcover children's book in English; according to Publishers Weekly, it had sold 1,821,457 copies.^[1]

Plot summary - 1930 edition

Nancy is introduced to the Turner sisters, Pat and Rosemary by Abigail Rem, a character who aids Nancy in the previous, and first, volume of the series. They believe that their home is haunted. Nancy's father is being harassed by a crooked character, Nathan Gombet, who threatens violence. Carson Drew, undaunted, agrees to allow Nancy to investigate the house and sends his revolver with her. He will travel to Chicago during the first part of Nancy's stay at the old estate and join her later.

Odd things have been happening at the Mansion. A valuable necklace has been stolen, and canaries get into the house, seemingly of their own accord. Nancy finds it difficult to focus on the mystery at hand when her father fails to arrive home from Chicago in a timely manner - he appears to have vanished. Meanwhile, Nancy discovers that the nefarious Gombet owns the adjacent estate, nearly identical in appearance to the Mansion, though in a much more dilapidated state. She decides to investigate Gombet's house one rainy night, armed with revolver and flashlight. While roaming around the old house, Nancy accidentally falls through a secret panel and down a staircase into a tunnel, which leads back to the house in which she is staying.

Nancy reveals her discovery to the Turners in the morning, then they investigate together. The police, acting on Nancy's suspicions, raid Gombet's house, where Carson Drew is discovered to have been a prisoner for days. Gombet is found to have been behind the hauntings as well.

Artwork

The original Russell H. Tandy artwork features Nancy in a 1930 raincoat and hat, climbing the hidden staircase by flashlight, a frontispiece, and three internals. The internals were dropped from editions in 1937. In 1943, Tandy updated his frontispiece to a pen-and-ink scene featuring updated fashions and hairstyles; this drawing was retained until the 1959 revision. Updated 1950 dust cover art by Bill Gillies shows Nancy opening the panel to the staircase for the Turner sisters. This scene was retained for the revised text in 1959, and was fully described in the book in detail which included the clothing worn. In 1966, the art was replaced with Rudy Nappi's updated version of the original Tandy art, featuring Nancy in matronly clothing. The revised text story was published as a book club edition in 1960. For this edition, Polly Bolian illustrates Nancy and Helen on the cover, by flashlight, investigating the tunnel with the stairs behind them.The Hidden Staircase was about how Nathan Gober telling Nancy Drew that she needs to watch her father ,but that is not the only mistory is about Nancy is helping her friend Helen Corning out because her Aunt rosemarys house is haunted

Cinematic treatment

The Hidden Staircase was filmed in 1938 by Warner Bros. as Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase, part of their series of four films starring Bonita Granville as Nancy. The plot was heavily revised for the film. Nancy's father is not harassed by anyone, and the plot becomes a murder mystery when the Turnbull sisters' chauffeur is murdered and the death is made to look like a suicide.

References

1. ^ [1]