In The Clue in the Jewel Box, Nancy and her friends meet a foreign queen who was exiled from her home country two decades before. The night of the revolution, the entire royal family had been murdered aside from the queen’s grandson, who was stolen out of the country by his nurse. Ever since, the queen has longed to find the lost Prince Michael. But when Nancy finds the prince, she soon comes to regret solving this mystery. At the same time, River Heights becomes haunted by a string of pickpocket thefts conducted by a slippery thief.
Spoilers ahead!
I sincerely enjoyed this one, though it doesn’t rank in my all-time favorites. Michael is a very funny character. He is such a menace, and yet, so needy. He tries to force Nancy and her friends to spend time with him, he hounds Katherine for dates, and he seems to enjoy his role as prince so much that it’s like he believes he really is one. He’s like a spoiled child with absolutely no sense of the effect he has on others.
The robbery at the end is really brutal (especially in the original) and I thought it didn’t jive well with his character. He is always selfish and thoughtless, but less intentionally malicious. If I could make an edit to this story, I would disconnect Michael from the pickpocket storyline, whose connection barely made sense anyway.
Differences between the Original and the Revised
There are almost no differences at all. Some revised versions start the whole story over from scratch, and some make the most minor of edits- that was this one. It has all the usual differences, which is that church is mentioned at least once, and all the characters (including Nancy herself) are made a bit nicer. But I honestly couldn’t even tell you how they managed to take away enough material for five whole chapters. (All the revised editions have five less chapters than their originals.)
One notable thing is that this book features the first appearance of Burt and Dave! For those who don’t know, in the re-writes, Burt and Dave have been showing up as Bess and George’s steady dates since book one. However, in the originals, Burt and Dave have not existed until this story. Bess and George have had random dates in each book so far; this is the first we hear that they’ve been seeing anyone regularly.
There was also one scene where the revised version decided to take out some humor, and I wasn’t pleased:
“I’m really worried that something has happened to him,” [Nancy] replied. “He’s too much of a gentleman not to have sent word.”
“Well, if he wasn’t in an accident, what could have happened to him?” Ned persisted.
“Lots of things. Thieves could have waylaid him, knocked him out, and stolen his car.”
“Gee, you’re cheerful. What else?”
The revised takes out Ned’s remark at the end. Isn’t that silly? For that alone, the original is my favorite version of this story.
There is one really brutal scene near the end that is slightly softened in the revised (but only SLIGHTLY). Michael schemes with the two pickpockets to have them rob Mrs. Alexandra’s house while all the young people are away. Nancy figures out what they are up to too late, and drives over to the house to check on Mrs. Alexandra.
Leaving the others to look after Anna, she hurried into Mrs. Alexandra’s bedroom. Her worst fears were confirmed. The old lady lay face downward upon the bed. Her hands and feet were tightly bound with clothesline, and a cloth had been stuffed into her mouth.
Ugh. When I tell you I audibly gasped when I read that, I mean it. That image of this sweet, frail, older woman in this state was a lot more than I had expected from Nancy Drew. The revised version softens this scene slightly by omitting that Mrs. Alexandra is face-down on the bed.
Katherine and Mr. Ellington
Another thing the revised improves on is it gives a little more context to the relationship between Katherine and Mr. Ellington. Context: Mr. Ellington is the true Prince Michael, and the book ends with him getting engaged to Katherine, a sweet fashion designer who hails from the same country as him.
In the original, they meet at the fashion show midway through the book and hit it off. Mr. Ellington asks her on a date, which he is unable to attend (as he gets mugged and abducted). When he does finally meet her next, he asks her to marry him!!! This is, as far as I can tell, possibly the only time they’ve met alone.
In the revised, they change the wording of several conversations to make it appear as though Katherine and Mr. Ellington have already gone on several dates. They also have Katherine refer to Mr. Ellington by his first name (Richard), and make it clear that the two met each other two weeks ago, and not just a few days before, which is what the flow of the story would make you think. Thus, though still rushed, it comes a little more naturally when they get engaged at the end.
Helen Corning Archer
Helen Corning / Helen Corning Archer makes an appearance in this book. Because I didn’t start reading the originals until around book 12, I didn’t realize that Helen is only married in the revised version. (This makes sense, as in the originals, all the girls are around 16.) In the original, Helen and her parents sponsor Katherine’s fashion endeavors, whereas in the revised, it’s Helen and her husband Jim.
Additional Notes
Some random things I noticed while reading:
There’s a funny scene from when Michael joins the Drews to meet Mrs. Alexandra for dinner, where he will be meeting his royal grandmother for the first time. While everyone else is dressed to the nines, Michael, who had even been warned to do otherwise, shows up wearing a t-shirt and slacks.
“I suppose you’re eager to see your grandmother,” Mr. Drew remarked, studying the young man curiously.
“Oh sure,” he replied, but his tone lacked warmth. “What’s she like?”
“Decidedly formal,” Nancy warned him severely.
This Nancy sass is kept in the revised version, which I approve of.
I don’t even have to Google and find out if this story was originally written by a woman, because of this scene that was clearly written from collective female trauma:
As the food was passed, it became evident that [Michael] had learned little from his association with his grandmother. He told a couple dull stories, and annoyed Katherine by his attentions.
“Say, Michael,” said Ned, addressing him abruptly, “will you do us a favor?”
“What is it?” the young man asked suspiciously.
“Katherine left her coat in the motorboat. Dash down and get it for her,” he replied, giving the girl a broad wink.
The young man considered a moment, and then smiled at the girl. “I’ll do it for you,” he said. “But when I get back, I’ll expect a reward.”
Oh, YUCK. Not the bare minimum favor that they attempt to turn into physical favors. This was written in 1942- some things really do never change.
This very funny scene between Nancy and friends:
“I believe the man known as Michael Alexandra is not a prince,” whispered Nancy tensely. “But we’ll know in a minute.”
“What do you want us to do?” asked Buck.
“How are you at kidnapping?”
“Expert,” grinned Ned. “When do we nab him? Now?”
This, remarkably, was also kept in the revised. Again, I approve, and have no notes.
Ned
Ned is kind of needy. I’d be clingy too if I was dating someone as skilled, competent, and insane as Nancy, but his dependency is a little more distinct in the original novels. He’s often jealous, feels neglected and sulky, and is frequently trying to distract Nancy from mystery to pay a little more attention to him.
Here’s some Ned snark:
“What’s on your calendar for tonight?” he asked as they sat together on the porch swing.
… “A Mrs. Alexandra is giving a grand dinner party. Dad and I are to take a Francis Baum to her home for the first time. It’s thrilling, Ned! He’s supposed to be a missing prince–“
“Wish he’d stay missing,” Ned muttered darkly.
Overall, I found this one pretty good. Michael was a really funny character, and Nancy Drew is best when it is funny. My vote goes to the original version, for being a bit more interesting.
Jewel Box Easter Eggs
These sweet treats are from my Nancy Drew Cookbook:
The recipe is as follows:
- 2 sticks (8 ozs) Butter
- 1 8oz package Cream Cheese
- 3 1-lb boxes of Confectioner’s Sugar
- 8 ozs Semisweet Chocolate
- 1 tbsp Butter
- 1 2-inch square Paraffin
- 1/4 tsp Vanilla Flavoring
- Let Butter and Cream Cheese come to room temperature. Put them in a large bowl and mix them together. Slowly add the Sugar until well blended. Shape this mixture into small eggs about the size of a teaspoon. Store in refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
- Put water in the bottom of a double boiler and bring to a boil. Place Chocolate, 1 tbsp Butter, Paraffin, and Vanilla Flavoring in the top of the double boiler. Let this mixture melt over the boiling water, stirring well. Dip each chilled egg into the mixture. Put coated eggs back in he refrigerator for at least 15 minutes.
Makes about 100 delicious small Easter eggs.
Nancy Tip: Put nutritious surprises in the eggs. Chop about 4ozs Seedless Raisins and 2ozs Unblanched Almonds and add them to the Butter and Cream Cheese mixture.
This recipe had a lot of promise but was just FAR TOO SWEET. I was really disappointed, because it looked extremely delicious while I was mixing it all together.
My suggestions for improvement:
- Cut out potentially an entire pound of the powdered sugar.
- Take Nancy’s tip VERY seriously. I added Dried Cherries and Pine Nuts to my mixture, as it’s what I had around. I think the Dried Cherries did great, but Pine Nuts dissolve too easily; you need something with more bite. Her suggestion for almonds is a good idea. But add MORE. I don’t think her proportions are high enough.
As per usual, this is a vintage cookbook and some of its ingredients are a little dated. For the 2-inch square Paraffin, I used Gulf Wax:
This can be found in your local grocery store around the kitchen/canning section. It’ll come in 4 thick slices of wax. For this recipe, you only need about 1/3 of one of these slices.
For the Vanilla Flavoring, like always, I just used regular Vanilla Extract.
I also ended up coating most of these only halfway. This was partly to conserve chocolate, and partly to cut down on some sweetness.
Overall: yummy, full of promise, but hugely overkill. Have you made these before? What do you think of Nancy’s Jewel Box Easter Eggs?
Philosodrama 
Leave a comment