Nell Speed

Nell Speed was an American writer who created the first four Molly Brown novels: Molly Brown’s Freshman Days, Molly Brown’s Sophomore Days, Molly Brown’s Junior Days, and Molly Brown’s Senior Days. After Speed’s death in 1913, her sister Emma Speed Sampson continued publishing under Nell Speed’s name. The later Molly Brown sequence includes Molly Brown’s Post-Graduate Days, Molly Brown’s Orchard Home, Molly Brown of Kentucky, and Molly Brown’s College Friends. Books issued under the same byline also include At Boarding School With the Tucker Twins, Back at School With the Tucker Twins, Tripping With the Tucker Twins, A House Party With the Tucker Twins, and The Carter Girls. These connected school, travel, friendship, and family stories are now preserved in library catalogues and public-domain editions, though their shared byline can obscure the sisters’ separate contributions.