Henrietta (Hen) lives with her father, mother, nanny and little sister in a home in a forest outside of London shortly after WWI. The family is in mourning because their brother has recently died, and the mother has become severely depressed. Hen and Nanny Jane try to keep the family going, but when the father goes away on business, and a over ambitious doctor wants to "experiment" on Hen's mother, Hen worries that her family and her life will fall apart. She seeks solace with a vagrant woman she meets who is living in the forest near her house. She also gathers strength from her memories of her diseased brother who appears to her in the form of an imaginary friend. This is a dark and brooding Gothic novel. Hen's situation sinks lower and lower until she is at the point of despair. She finally finds a way out, but the book might be too heavy for kids who are sensitive by nature and easily upset. It was a little bit hard for me to read, but Strange's beautiful use of language and a knowledge that children's books almost always have a happy ending kept me going. (2017, 288 p)
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