The Heather-Moon

About the book

Barrie MacDonald has grown up under a grandmother whose strict rules extend to the books she may read and the questions she may ask. An unexpectedly open attic door leads her to bright clothes, abandoned furniture, and a portrait that challenge the household's account of her mother. Barrie's imaginative response to these discoveries turns a domestic rebellion into a search for affection and a different understanding of her own past. The novel carries that search beyond the oppressive house into a wider world of travel and competing personal interests. Its opening contrast between forbidden beauty and respectable severity establishes the central difficulty: Barrie must discover how far the people who claim to protect her can be trusted to tell her the truth.

• Family secrets
• Freedom and protection
• Imagination and experience

Why read it

The attic scene gives the family mystery a vivid material form in clothes, furniture, and a hidden portrait.

English A. L. Burt text with the 1912 copyright statement