Product Description

When fifteen-year-old Mary journeys from Scotland to Canada in search of her cousin, she makes a tragic discovery and alienates the townsfolk who fear her psychic powers.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3121842 in Books
• Published on: 1988-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

From School Library Journal
Grade 7 Up When 15-year-old Mary Urquhart hears her cousin Duncan's voice urgently summoning her to come to him, she is not surprised, even though she is in Scotland and he is 3,000 miles away in Upper Canada. For Mary has the second sight, and she and Duncan are soulmates, more like twins than the cousins they are. Accordingly Mary stubbornly sets off to join him in the far-off Canadian wilderness of 1815. It is eloquent testimony to Lunn's skill as a novelist that she is able to integrate these psychic elements into her plot without compromising the credibility of its ample historic detail. And it is further testimony to her skill and integrity that she portrays uncompromisingly the bleakness and hardship of life on the Canadian frontier, creating, in the process, a real world populated by fully developed, real people wholike Marygrow through their experiences. Great strength of character is required to survive, and some readers may feel that Mary's strength comes off simply as stubborness. They may also be put off by the magisterial pace of the narrative and its unrelievedly bleak and melancholy tone. Few will deny its authenticity and richness. Michael Cart, Beverly Hills Public Library
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Haunted in the New World by her Dark Cousin
This dark fantasy does not approach Lunn's superb THE ROOT CELLAR, but proves an interesting read all the same. Two cousins in 19th century Scotland, born the same week, grow up inseparable. Despite their different temperaments and appearance, Mairi and Duncan are two halves of one coin; they vow at age 11 to remain of couple for ever. Then Duncan's family decides to emigrate to Upper Canada, a move which threatens to tear assunder the unique bond that links their destinies. When the story opens, Mairi has agonized for four years; can their devotion to each other triumph over ocean, time, distance and death itself?

Mairi endures the incredible hardships of emigrant travel, as she struggles on her personal quest alone. She has sacficed everything she knows and loves to be reunited
with Duncan. Unfortunately, the folks in Hawthorn Bay on the St. Lawrence River first treat her as a heroine, then as slightly daft, but they ultimately consider her suspicious. With her spirit talk and dire predictions, even the children turn against her. Will she be branded as a witch in this Puritannical New World? Persecuted by worse than ignorant colonists, Mairi realizes that she herself is being stalked by
evil--using Duncan's voice to lure her to disaster. She is terrified of the forest, yet morbidly attracted to a special flat rock which is linked with Duncan's disappearnce. After her physical and emotional pilgrimmage, how far must she travel to ultimately join him? Which path will she choose to meet her beloved? A mysterious read about a brave young woman who wants to control her own destiny.

No words can explain
I'm 14 and I love historical Fiction! This book was so amazing I can't even start to explain how it made me feel when i was reading it. I liked it so much I cried when i was finished it. I know that sounds silly but that's how i felt. Mary had such a twisted life. In class right about the time i finished this book we started studying The Ukrainian immigrants comming to Canada and we had to do a huge project on it and this book help me so much because of how well it explained the boat ride and the life once she got there. It's a truley amazing story.

my other fav books are:
Gwen's story
Tuck everlasting
The tillerman series (Homecoming, Dicey's song etc.)
you should read them :)

Memorable
I read it when I was grade school. Today, after some 15 years, it is still my favorite book.