The Ghost of Midnight Lake
It is December 1899; a new century looms. Twelve-year-old Agatha, living in Gosswater Hall in the English Lake District and accustomed to expensive luxuries, mourns her father’s death and finds this means she is to be thrown out. Apparently, the man she has called ‘father’ is not her real father. A loathsome cousin appears with documents proving he is the new heir to the estate. A village carpenter comes for Agatha in a horse-drawn cart, glumly agreeing that she is his daughter.
The carpenter, Thomas, also keeps geese, which Agatha find fearsome. His small cottage has no luxuries, no servants. He is a silent man often absent. Alone, Agatha attends the funeral of the man she thought was her father. An elderly aunt takes one look at her and dies of shock. Sad and lonely on Skelter Island, her family’s long-time burial island, Agatha meets the orphan Bryn. Perhaps, Agatha wonders, she also had been an orphan and adopted by the emotionally distant Asquith family.
This novel for middle grades is exciting from beginning to end as we follow the many adventures of Agatha and Bryn, who together search for Agatha’s true family, her true identity. The pace quickens to a dramatic climax with Gosswater Hall on fire and Thomas’s pet goose playing a pivotal role.
An enjoyable novel, this combines a complex, many-layered plot with vivid characters, each of whom has a carefully developed arc that is realistic and satisfying. Don’t be put off by the title. This novel will speak to anyone who has ever wondered about their identity and the influences that have created their present life. A thoughtful book for readers of any age.
