Nel Slis, a Dutch journalist, of whom I had never heard, had a remarkable life. A female journalist at a time when women had to fight to be accepted by their male colleagues, and when journalism was a predominantly male preserve, Nel Slis was feisty and determined, willing to take on all comers, and very good at her job. A well-researched biography, this book makes for some fascinating reading.

Hellcat of The Hague is not just the story of Nel Slis but also the story of Europe and how it came to be as it is today. Nel Slis was ahead of her time, a strong independant woman who knew what she wanted to say or ask and did it. At times I got a little lost / switched off when the focus was on Europe and politics, I would have liked more of an insight to Nel the person as opposed to Nel the reporter.

Thanks to NetGalley an the publishers for allowing me to read Hellcat of The Hague.

Hellcat of the Hague By Caroline Studdert
I enjoy reading books by or about journalists from the 1920’s on through the 1960’s. These includes books mostly about Americans who just out of school move to Asia or Europe and end up playing an important part in writing the 1st draft of History. The most recent book I have read like this is Deborah Cohen’s, Last Call at the Hotel Imperial. One of the five journalist in this book is Dorothy Thompson who interviews both Hitler and Mussolini and rose to a level of popularity just below Eleanor Roosevelt. A second book is Wise Gals by Nathalia Holt which describes the careers of the first five women in the OSS and the CIA and how they rose from very low levels to senior levels in the CIA. So, I was looking forward to reading this book about a woman; Nel Slis who I did not know. By the way just to make clear, I am a male. On many levels this book is an excellent read but let me first explain my disappointments.
I thought Ms. Studdert over emphasized her sex life or lack of. Reading along she mentions that Nel has marriage proposals by many a man. And the one man she professes to love is Daniel Schorr. I looked through the index of Staying Tuned by Mr. Schorr. Though he writes of Brussels and The Hague, Nel Slis is not in the Index! A second point is related to being a journalist for a Wire Service. I had never thought about the difference compared to writing for a single paper before but I would have liked to have had Ms. Studdert explain the differences. I am not sure but given the subscribing papers choose articles not commissioned to their own staff, do they expect to do little or no grammar checking? Are they looking for an occasional story of note from a region that generally has little appeal to their readers? And may this have been a reason for the slower rise of Nel through the AP system besides her being a woman in a man’s career world ? Lastly, it is not clear to me that Brussels or The Hague were compelling news locations for most papers looking for stories in St. Louis or Singapore.
What I did enjoy even before seeing the photographs was the impression of Nel Slis from Ms. Studdert’s description of a well- dressed, small in stature but feisty character. She certainly looked the part when I saw the photographs. And very similar to the book I mentioned about the women in the CIA, Ms. Slis had to “out prepare” and ask the tough questions which she certainly did. Finally, like many people who put their entire life into their work when it ends there seems little left. This is a sad ending to Ms. Slis’s career.