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West Hall, Vermont, has always been a town of strange disappearances and old legends. The most mysterious is that of Sara Harrison Shea, who, in 1908, was found dead in the field behind her house just months after the tragic death of her daughter, Gertie. Now, in present day, nineteen-year-old Ruthie lives in Sara's farmhouse with her mother, Alice, and her younger sister, Fawn. Alice has always insisted that they live off the grid, a decision that suddenly proves perilous when Ruthie wakes up one morning to find that Alice has vanished without a trace. Searching for clues, she is startled to find a copy of Sara Harrison Shea's diary hidden beneath the floorboards of her mother's bedroom. As Ruthie gets sucked deeper into the mystery of Sara's fate, she discovers that she's not the only person who's desperately looking for someone that they've lost. But she may be the only one who can stop history from repeating itself.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Awards
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Release date
February 11, 2014 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9780804165181
- File size: 309964 KB
- Duration: 10:45:45
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Languages
- English
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Levels
- Lexile® Measure: 800
- Text Difficulty: 3-4
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Reviews
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Cassandra Campbell and Kathe Mazur stride into this eerie literary tale with aplomb. The haunting story is softly told, as though whispered, in direct contrast to the dark saga of the undead embracing the past and the perilous present. The performers' genteel vocalizations suggest a horrifying complacency as the spooky details emerge, although their voicings of grief, fear, and terror are profound. The Vermont woods, witchcraft, graveyards, and the revelations of Sara Shea's 1908 diary provide a fitting ambiance for this gripping ghost story. In present time, a child vanishes, repeating a history of mysterious deaths and dreadful returns. A.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine -
November 25, 2013
In this scary thriller, McMahon (The One I Left Behind) explores how far people will go to save the ones they love, and what results when they go too far. In 1908, Sara Harrison Shea, a resident of West Hall, Vt., becomes convinced she can bring her murdered daughter back to life. In the present day, 19-year-old Ruthie Washburne’s mother vanishes from their farm without a trace, forcing Ruthie to research West Hall’s dark history of disappearances, animal sacrifice, and inexplicable phenomena. Ruthie’s chilling discovery that Sara was found murdered with her skin removed a few months after her daughter’s burial raises the stakes. Almost every character is imbued with a great deal of psychological depth, which makes the stereotypical portrayal of Auntie, a Native American sorceress, all the more disappointing. McMahon is more successful when she deftly switches between past and present, using the changes in perspective to increase the tension. Author tour. Agent: Daniel Lazar, Writers House.
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