A Drowned Maiden's Hair: A Melodrama
By: Laura Amy Schlitz
Maud lives at the Barbary Asylum for Female Orphans. She knows she's not a ‘good girl,' otherwise she would have been adopted when her brother and younger sister were (the family needed a boy to help with chores and fell in love with her adorable little sister, leaving Maud alone). She takes her bad-girl reputation to the extreme in some cases, but on the morning of the best day of her life she was locked in the outhouse singing "The Battle Hymn of the Republic."
Maud knew the Misses Hawthorne were coming to adopt a little girl about 9 years old that day. What she didn't know was that her singing would be her ticket to leaving the orphanage behind forever. Hyacinth adopts Maud and takes her home to teach her the family business. You see, Hyacinth fancies herself a medium and tries to help people contact their dead loved ones. The only problem is Hyacinth isn't really a medium and she needs Maud's help. In order for Maud to help it must appear that she doesn't even live there.
Maud's quite the little girl - she's got spirit and attitude aplenty, but she loves Hyacinth and her dearest wish is to be loved in return, so she does the things that Hyacinth asks her to do. At first she's quite proud of herself, but when Maud disobeys a major rule and ends up meeting one of Hyacinth's clients, she can't help but think the things she's doing are wrong.
When a devastating event occurs and Maud finds out who really cares about her, she does the bravest thing she can do: she tells the truth. Unfortunately, Maud suffers some pretty serious consequences for this action. Will she be forgiven or will she be the ‘bad' girl at the orphanage until she grows up?
This ghost story comes from the same author who wrote, Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! that won the Newbery award in 2008. Both books are in our collection and I encourage you to check them both out. This one for a slightly spooky story and Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! for its original structure (yes, and the writing!).
Recommended To:
- Fans of the Victorian era
- Fans of ghost stories/slightly spooky stories
- Those who are searching for their identity: am I a good person? Bad person? When do you lie? Should you ever lie? Does the truth really set you free?
- Everyone!
Notes on the Cover:
Love it! The artist obviously read the text: Maud in the foreground in her new (!) white dress with reddish colored sash and little Caroline in the background on the jetty. The only issue is that Caroline's hair is straight in the picture, but Maud's haunting look more than makes up for that minor detail.