limedragon :)

Mysterious Women

(There is a bit of knitting content, I promise!)

You might recognize these names and know what they have in common:

• Karen Grigsby Bates
• Amanda Cross (Carolyn Gold Heilbrun)
• Diane Mott Davidson
• Rosemary White Gatenby
• Carolyn Keene (Harriet Stratemeyer Adams, and others)
• Jane (Gillson) Langton
• Emma Lathen (Mary Jane Latsis and Martha Henissart^*)
• Katherine Hall Page
• Kate Ross

They’re all mystery authors. I thought this was quite appropriate for Halloween.

And what’s more, we all attended Wellesley College. I was already aware of the Stratemeyer connection, but I had no idea Cross, Davidson, or Page went to Wellesley. I’ll definitely be checking out the other authors new to me. Has anyone read most or all of these authors?

By coincidence, I had queried in the Ravelry YarnWords group forum about a long lost and vaguely remembered book I had read during childhood. The book turned out to be The Swing in the Summerhouse, by Jane Langton! In addition to the Homer Kelly mysteries, she writes The Hall Family Chronicles, of which Summerhouse is the second book.

One of the characters, Eleanor Hall, is a knitter! At one point in The Diamond in the Window, she uses the sharp point of a needle as a prying tool. Later, there is a paragraph about the knitted gifts she made. I’m quoting it here because I think it will strike chords with some of you.

…She had knitted something for everybody. Aunt Lily’s present was one mitten with the promise of another. Edward’s was a nose-warmer that buttoned in back. Uncle Freddy’s was an enormously long striped muffler. It dangled to his knees.…  “It was just knit-a-row, purl-a-row,” said Eleanor. “I almost forgot to stop.”
(The Diamond in the Window, Jane Langton, pages 119-120)

I wonder if Langton knits?

Source: “When it comes to murder and mayhem, Wellesley authors are masters,” by Karen Grigsby Bates, Wellesley, Fall 2006.

^*Of the Emma Lathen duo, Latsis is the Wellesley alumna. They also wrote under the pseudonym R.B. Dominic.