The Whispering Glade

I read this book for a class project. It's a very good and I think it's a great book for all types of audience. It could keep the attention of teenagers as well as adults. But I wouldn't recommend it to anyone younger than fourteen. It covers a lot of different times throughout the main character, Mya's, life. It let's you experience what she goes through during her life as well. She goes through many events such as; her parent's death, her aunt's death, finding her other aunt, being separated from her siblings as a child and losing her best friend. This is a very easy book to follow, it doesn't get confusing at all. The whole book is a flashback, except for the beginning and end of it. It shows how loving and caring an individual can be to somebody. This book has great characterization. It really lets you get to know the characters one by one. It explains where they are from, who they are related to, what their importance is, and it really shows they're different kinds of attitudes towards things in life. It also has good description. You can really picture the towns that Mya goes through and the type of people living there, for example whenever anything small happens at the Greythorn house, the whole town talks about it for a really long time because they have nothing better to do. There is a lot of foreshadowing as well, for example the death of Emily. This keeps the book interesting and keeps your attention. Overall I would recommend this book to anybody interested in reading a nonfiction book. It's a good length, easy reading and very interesting. It also has a great ending. Mya's life has never been perfect but in the end she gets what she has always dreamed of and life turns out perfect for her.

Someone reprint this book -- and fast! Hylton wove a tapestry of colorful personalities in a backward little English town, a delightful drama narrated by an intelligent young woman with a steady mind.Maya is a privileged little girl in Africa, where her father is a prosperous farmer. Her parents are killed in a raid of their farm, and the bewildered child is sent to a particularly dreary part of England to live with her uncle and aunt. Her uncle is a piously self-righteous snoot, who disapproves of anything enjoyable or pretty for Maya. His only goal is that she grow up obedient, marry young to a pious dull guy, have lotsa babies. And the aunt has submerged her individuality under her husband's.The only bright spot is Maya's life is her best friend, Emily, a spirited redhead who plays with her for many years. She also befriends a young woman of the "gentry," but must deal with Gavin Gaynor, the girl's brother.Her uncle claims she is too innocent and unworldly to have further education, but Maya manages to get permission to have further schooling. She knows the town is backward, and that she wants to do more with her life than marry and pop out children. After her uncle sabotages her attempts to become a teacher, she has to come home and help - and is given work as a governess. But the tide of evil in the Gaynor family becomes apparent when Emily, pregnant, unwed, and disgraced, disappears after refusing to name the father of her baby. And Gavin has taken a decided interest in Maya...The writer's old-fashioned style and vivid characters leap off the page. In a subtle manner, she presents women as they were viewed back then, and Maya's constant efforts to remain intelligent, strong, and capable of looking after herself are heartwarming.If you find a copy, then by all means read it!