The strange house or, A moment's mistake

About the book

Gertrude Ashlyn accepts a position near Hampstead as financial worry and her mother's failing eyesight make paid work increasingly important. The Shaddock household brings the demands of several children, misunderstandings, and the task of treating difficult behavior fairly. Nearby, a solitary neighbor attracts attention through his furtive habits and unexplained lights in a supposedly empty house. Gertrude's own family has suffered the disappearance of a child, giving the gathering mystery a significance beyond idle curiosity. Shaw weaves the two households' concerns into a Christian domestic narrative in which prayer, patience, and responsibility guide decisions. The suspense grows alongside smaller moral tests, so that judging a child's conduct and interpreting a suspicious adult both require more care than a first impression allows.

• Conscience and judgment
• Family separation
• Christian trust

Why read it

Gertrude's work as a governess makes fairness in everyday decisions an integral part of the larger mystery.

English John F. Shaw and Co. text labeled New Edition