Rebecca Rego Barry to Speak at The Hobart Exchange on 9/27/26.

HOBART - Carolyn Wells (1862–1942) excelled at writing country house and locked-room mysteries for a decade before Agatha Christie entered the scene. In the 1920s, when she was churning out three or more books annually, she was dubbed “about the biggest thing in mystery novels in the US.” All told, Wells wrote over 180 books. in just about every literary genre. Some were adapted into silent films, and some became bestsellers. Yet a hundred years later, she has been all but erased from literary history. Why? How? Part biography and part sleuthing narrative, The Vanishing of Carolyn Wells recovers the life and work of a brilliant writer who was considered one of the funniest, most talented women of her time.

A graduate of Syracuse University, Rebecca has spent nearly three decades working with words — in book publishing, in college libraries, and as a journalist. She also holds a master’s degree in book history from Drew University. Her articles about literature, history, and the culture of collecting have appeared in The Guardian, Financial Times, Smithsonian, Literary Hub, CrimeReads, and elsewhere. Her first book, Rare Books Uncovered: True Stories of Fantastic Finds in Unlikely Places (2015), developed from her longtime editorship of Fine Books & Collections magazine. She is currently the director of communications at The Raab Collection, a firm that buys and sells historical autographs and documents. Rebecca and her husband, Brett Barry, have also recently become involved in the revival of the indie Catskills book publisher, Purple Mountain Press.