MYSTERY SOLVED

[osprey_archer]

Yesterday I posted about a list of nonsense words that I'd found tucked into my copy of The Motor Girls of Crystal Bay. The list is

Mrtaia
Fdera
Ktea
Croa
Bses
Belel
Ltoite
Balnha

I found them flummoxing, but thisbluespirit figured them out! They're ANAGRAMS!

Mrtaia = Marita
Fdera = Freda
Ktea = Kate
Croa = Cora
Bses = Bess
Belel = Belle
Ltoite = Lottie
Balnha = still not sure about that one. Anagrammers of the world! Any idea about early 20th century girls names that would fit? The book was published in 1914.

Except for Kate and the mysterious Balnha, these are the names of the main characters in the book. I can but presume that Kate is my ancestress's OC, who in my mind is a girl with flashing dark eyes and a perhaps slightly anachronistic bob, who meets the Motor Girls when their car breaks down during a storm and helps them out when they are In Peril, and therefore gets invited along for the adventure...

Comments

[asakiyume]

Clever clever thisbluespirit--that's brilliant!

Now if we only knew what Balnha equates to...

[osprey_archer]

Upon further consideration of the text, it strikes me that the supposed final a in Balnha might in fact be a cursive ce all run together - in which case the anagram is Blanche.

There isn't a Blanche in the book either. Maybe Blanche and Kate were both OCs.

[asakiyume]

I think you're right; it must be Blanche!

So I wonder which was OC self-insert and which was OC-antagonist!

[osprey_archer]

THE QUESTION.

Or maybe I had two great-great-aunts who read these books together and both created their own OC?

(Or maybe Kate & Blanche show up in other books in the series. Shhhh. I like the fanfic-anagram-aunts idea better.)

[thisbluespirit]

I was stuck on Balnha, too, but if it's Blanche, that fits!

Of course, who Kate and Blanche were and why your relative was turning them into anagrams is another question entirely! I like your OC explanation. :-)

[osprey_archer]

Clearly fanfic is a family legacy! Or else Blanche and Kate simply show up in different books in the series. But I like my explanation better.

[brigdh]

I love this answer to the mystery! Though I wonder why the writer used anagrams rather a straightforward list of names.

[osprey_archer]

I strongly suspect that it may have been the result of getting bored at school one day. What better amusement than writing anagrams at one's desk?