Orphaned at a young age, Frances lives with her poor aunt in a tiny apartment. When her aunt marries Mr. Tyrell, a man Frances has never met before, she believes he will turn their lives around. Although Frances has to leave her school to live with the Tyrell’s, she believes Mr. Tyrell’s three daughters will become close friends of hers.
When Frances first arrives at her new home, she is surprised at the cold, silent atmosphere of the house, and by its tight security. Windows are nailed shut and cannot be opened without an alarm being triggered. There is a concrete fence around the entire house. The house is stocked with enough food to last 20 years. No-one answers the door when Mr. Tyrell is out. The raising of a voice results in a scolding of “People might hear you!” No-one is allowed out of the house without Mr. Tyrell’s accompaniment. The daughters have never met anybody outside of the family and the temple group to which they belong. The days are occupied by a mixture of housework and the study of their religion. The family lives for their religion, cut off from the rest of man-kind so they cannot be contaminated by the sins of others.
Frances tries to conform but cannot help wondering why the religion’s members are the only ones worth saving when the war comes. She finds separation from the outside world difficult and wants to be welcomed enough into the religion to be able to recommend her friends to join it.
Firstly, the ending was a huge disappointment for me. I had so many unanswered questions; the author Robin Klein should have written a sequel. The ending really spoiled the book for me.
I first read this book at age eight and had absolutely no idea of the darkness behind it. In fact, until I read a review on it when I was 15, I was clueless to its mentions of religious cults, oppression and animal cruelty. Although many reviewers have decided that the book is not suitable for young people, I disagree. When I was younger, I really thought this book was about an abnormal family with an over-protective dad. The acknowledgements to the chilling themes explored in this book went way over my head. Even now, I do not understand the complexity of the manipulation and intimidation this book was written about. However, now that I have some idea of these black motifs, I am going to read this book from an entirely different perspective. I believe this book is suitable for both children and adults.
Thanks to Abbey for this great review! Send us yours.
