Set in Stone
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- £4.99
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- £4.99
Publisher Description
When Samuel Godwin, a young and naive art tutor, accepts a job with the Farrow family at Fourwinds, their majestic home, little does he expect to come across such a web of secrets and lies. His two tutees are as different as chalk and cheese - the beautiful younger sister Marianne, full of flightiness and nervous imagination, and Juliana, controlled and sad. With their governess, Charlotte Agnew, Samuel begins to uncover slowly the horrifying truth behind Juliana's sadness and Marianne's emotional fragility. Their discoveries change their perception of life at Fourwinds for ever and none of their lives will ever be the same again.
With her usual brilliance and ease, Linda Newbery has written a haunting and faultlessly plotted novel with characters that leap of the page and stay with the reader long after the last page is turned.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Newbery's (Sisterland) absorbing, haunting mystery set in Victorian England explores the dark secrets found among the wealthy. Fourwinds, the beautiful and architecturally impressive estate belonging to the recently widowed Ernest Farrow, holds a disturbing secret. Samuel Godwin has been hired to give art lessons to Farrow's two teenage daughters, Juliana and Marianne. He resolves that at Fourwinds, "I should find myself an artist." Shortly after his arrival, 21-year-old Samuel meets newlywed Eliza Dearly, former governess at Fourwinds. Samuel's been led to believe that Eliza's young son, Tommy, was conceived by another former employee, Gideon Waring, the man responsible for the exquisite stone carvings found throughout the estate. However, since Mrs. Dearly's visit, Juliana seems more withdrawn. The disturbing truth unfolds in alternating chapters between Samuel and the new governess, Charlotte Agnew, who has a secret of her own about Mr. Farrow. The consequences of incest and premarital sex in this era bubble below the surface of the novel and erupt near its conclusion; these themes plus the adult narrators and the antiquated dialogue that mimics Victorian conversation make this more appropriate for sophisticated readers. The writing style, reminiscent of Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, brims with atmospheric descriptions sure to delight seasoned book lovers, despite the disturbing plot twists. Ages 10-up.
