Author: Laura Amy Schlitz
Publisher: Recorded Books
Rating: WORTHY!
I was charmed by this debut novel from the off. It's a middle-grade historical fiction tale with elements of the Gothic about it, and everything seemed right - even the narrator's voice, with which I seem to find myself often having issues in audio books of late. Of course it helps if the novel is beautifully written and this one is. The author has an endearing way with words, the story is well-plotted, well-paced, and truly engrossing, and the main character is a keeper.
Maud Flynn is an orphan in a rather dour and strict home. Her older brother and younger sister were taken by a farmer and his wife - the boy because he could work the farm and the baby because she was so cute, but no one wanted a girl like Maud who couldn't work the farm (so the myth held) and worse, who was opinionated and feisty.
It comes as a bit of a surprise then, to Maud, who is locked in the outhouse for yet another infraction, and who is singing the Battle Hymn of the Republic at the top of her voice, when she's selected by Hyacinth, one of three aging sisters, to be their daughter.
At first Maud is thrilled beyond words to be finally picked, and she swears to herself to stay on her very best behavior, but it slowly becomes apparent to her that it wasn't really a daughter that these sisters wanted. They were looking for someone younger, but when Hyacinth realized that Maud was small for her age, she became her first choice.
It turns out that the sisters are perpetrating a scam, as all psychic mediums do. They bilk grieving people for everything they can get by faking visits from the spirits of departed loved ones, and in order to bilk their richest client yet, Mrs. Lambert, they need someone to impersonate her drowned daughter, someone who is small enough to fit into a secret cupboard by the fireplace, someone who can follow instructions to the letter. That's why they picked Maud.
I thought this might be a supernatural story which is why I picked it up. It isn't. It's just a story of Maud and fraud, but that took nothing away from it. The novel is really well-written, is engrossing and captivating. Hyacinth is one of the most deliciously repulsive villains I've read of in a long time. I fell in love with Maud who eventually did the right thing even at great cost to her own circumstances. I thought and hoped that it would end differently, but it ended comfortably if a little sugary.
I recommend this for an entertaining read.
