The story begins with a poem called “The Sands of Dee” by Charles Kingsley. It seems to be the inspiration for the story and also includes the line “a drowned maiden’s hair.” Following the lead of Harry Potter and A Series of Unfortunate Events, the story is about an orphan, who is placed in an unusual and morally compromising situation due to the adults who are supposed to care for them. When the reader meets Maud Flynn, who is head strong and opinionated, she is locked in an outhouse because she had misbehaved. She is then adopted by the Hawthorn sisters, who are pretend to be spirit mediums. They pull her into their questionable lives and Maud soon needs to decide whether she can continue leading the life of a “secret child” or if her need to be loved and care for is more important. The story is more like “A Series of Unfortunate Events” because it does not delve into fantasy, though there is a mystical aspect. It moves gracefully and quickly as Maud goes from being an orphan to being a child helping at séances and pretending that she is various dead people. You cannot help but be drawn into her world to find out which life she will choose.