A black dress next to my black dress. Gray hands reaching
for mine.
The old looking glass in the beaded frame returned only a suggestion
of features. I longed to see my new clothes, and as I stepped into
the passage, I was just turning over in my mind where I might have
seen a better mirror. When first I caught sight of the small figure
in black, I thought it was my reflection.
She stood very still in the dusky passage where the light was poorest.
Like me, she wore the black dress that proclaimed her a maid of
the house, but whereas mine was new, hers was spoiled by mildew
and smears of clay. Thin hair, dripping with muddy water, fell to
her shoulders in limp, stringy ropes. This was my companion of the
night before—and she was dead.
The child who will become Heathcliff is already a savage
little creature when Tabby Aykroyd arrives at Seldom House to be
his nursemaid. But the Yorkshire moors harbor far worse. The ghost
of the last maid will not leave Tabby in peace, yet this spirit
is only one of many.
As Tabby struggles to escape the evil forces that surround the house,
she tries to befriend her uncouth young charge, but her kindness
cannot alter his fate. Long before he reaches the old farmhouse
of Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff has already doomed himself and
any who try to befriend him.
"Pagan magic, Heathcliff's
back story and a lot of scary dead maids: Dunkle's knack for
the creepy sets spines tingling ... For readers familiar with Brontë's
novel, the final connection is a masterstroke; even those who don't
get it will find this a keeper." —Kirkus
"This is literature." —Bryce Milligan, San Antonio Express-News
"An engrossing thriller and worthy companion to its classic literary inspiration."
—The Horn Book (Starred review)
"DEAD MAIDS is dark and beautiful, literary and lovely ...
Worthy of sitting on a shelf next to Wuthering Heights." —Melissa Marr, author of Wicked Lovely
Book excerpt may or may not appear on printed book jackets. Excerpt
copyright 2010 by Clare B. Dunkle. Illustration copyright 2009 by
Patrick Arrasmith. Jacket art, text, and illustrations courtesy
of Henry Holt & Co. Jacket design by April Ward.
