The Long Secret

Harriet (of Harriet the Spy) is the over-confident, bossy daughter of surprisingly sensible parents. In this sequel to the earlier book her 'best friend' is timid Beth Ellen, in the charge of a wealthy invalid grandmother while her flighty mother with a series of escorts idles her life away in expensive European resorts. The peace of Watermill, where both children spend each summer in holiday homes 'at the beach', is disturbed by a secret leaver of notes, notes which quote from the bible and Shakespeare and are cruelly apt in their message for each recipient. Harriet is determined to solve the mystery and frustrated by Beth Ellen's apparent lack of interest. Then Beth Ellen's thoroughly awful mother returns and Harriet's curiosity is gratified in more ways than one. This is a funny and a curious book. I found myself initially put off by the strongly American tone but increasingly absorbed by the way Louise Fitzhugh depicts shifting relationships and developing personalities while keeping the narrative moving. A book to recommend to intelligent readers of twelve plus.