THE LOWDOWN:
17-year-old Verity Boone expects a warm homecoming when she returns to Catawissa, Pennsylvania, in 1867, pledged to marry a man she has never met. Instead, she finds a father she barely knows and a future husband with whom she apparently has nothing in common.
One truly horrifying surprise awaits her: the graves of her mother and aunt are enclosed in iron cages outside the local cemetery. Nobody in town will explain why, but Verity hears rumors of buried treasure and witchcraft. Perhaps the cages were built to keep grave robbers out… or to keep the women in.
Verity’s search for the truth exposes the town’s closely guarded secrets, sheds light on some disturbing family history, and leads her into mortal danger.
FIRST IMPRESSION:
July 1778
Wyoming Valley, Pennsylvania
Even facing probable death, Private Silas Clayton couldn’t stop thinking about that leather satchel.
Screams and gunfire echoed off the mountain walls in the distance. Light from burning homesteads flickered through the trees, and smoke hung over the valley, obscuring the stars. Silas knelt in the dirt, his hands bound behind his back and all his thoughts bent toward that bag, which fellow captive Sergeant Anders wore slung across his chest.
—ARC paperback edition
SNAPSHOT:
Verity Boone, the personable and plucky young heroine of this atmospheric historical mystery, arrives in her old hometown to meet Nate, the boy she has agreed to marry after a series of letters stole her heart.
At the center of Verity’s story is the well-crafted mystery of the two caged graves—and the disgrace that haunts her family’s past. Verity digs in her heels to expunge her mother’s dishonor, wasting little breath pining over memories of ‘better times’ in Worcester. She is genuinely ready to claim a future for herself in Catawissa and her determination to make that life hers is a positive driving force.
The love triangle subplot is a necessary element, allowing Verity the space and motivation to examine her feelings for Nate and for herself, her father, and Catawissa. She must come to her own conclusions, and decide if she can be happy with a good, hard-working man she doesn’t love as her husband.
While Verity often jumps to conclusions based on preconceived discriminations, for a girl of her time, upbringing, and status, Verity is a decent role model. However, her virtues are infrequently put to the test. Verity is not here to save herself or make the decisive moves: consider her the eyes of the story rather than the heart. Her major moments come through standing up for herself and others, leaving much of the remaining plot to occur to and around her.
Even readers reluctant to try historical novels should find something to enjoy here, especially as the historical setting is evoked subtly and without lecture, allowed to unfurl naturally instead of through clumsy info dumps.
It would benefit readers to discuss how society has and has not changed in 150 years, particularly the amount of girl-hate in Verity’s internal and external world. While some girls resolve their differences with her in positive ways, it doesn’t help that city-girl Verity with her “golden hair” and fair skin is lauded as the most attractive woman in town. It would have strengthened Verity’s romances if her peers were more than plain Janes. Indeed, this would especially confirm that her worth—and any girl’s worth—is in more than her dowry or her looks.
Appropriate for ages 12+. Chaste romantic situations, no drug or alcohol use by minors, intense situations.
Deals with love and marriage, family honor, treachery and desire, identity, and being true to yourself.
GET IT ON YOUR SHELF:
If you…
– Enjoy historical settings with slow-burn romance
– Need a tale filled with love, loss, and the hint of the supernatural
– Are a fan of solid gothic mysteries, superstition, and treasure hunting
– Want a light, quick read
THE ESSENTIALS:
Historical YA mystery
Hardcover & Ebook, 329 pages
Published May 14th, 2013 by Clarion Books (ISBN 978-0-547-86853-0)
http://www.hmhco.com/shop/books/the-caged-graves/9780547868530
(Review copy provided by Jennifer Groves at Clarion Books; cover illustration used with permission courtesy of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.)