The Girl in the Blue Dress - 2012 ABNA Entry

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Spending every summer at her grandmother's large and lonely estate at Carlton Manor, Madeline is often forced to amuse herself. But when, on a particularly gloomy day, her grandmother reveals a secret of the house, Madeline finds herself unraveling the mysteries within."All books contain spirits…" So begins the tale Evelyn Bradford has waited decades to tell her granddaughter, a bright, imaginative child who loves books almost as much as her grandmother. The books of the manor's library, and indeed all libraries, contain the spirits of those who wrote them and the souls of the characters who live between the pages. This revelation leads Madeline to spend days trying to rescue the poor souls within the books, reading furiously so they will not be forgotten and fade away.One particular ghost, however, captures Madeline's imagination and after searching the vast library shelves to no avail, she finally begs her grandmother to tell her the story of the girl in the blue dress. This is not just any story, as Madeline discovers, but rather the key to her own history, hidden for a generation from both her and her mother by her well-meaning, but stern grandmother.A story spanning three generations, The Girl in Blue Dress is a tale of love and disappointment, family expectations, and friendship. As Evelyn exposes the life she was unable to forget, Madeline is mesmerized by the Smith and Bridgewater families, including the beautiful and determined Christina, the strange but lovely Lily, the gardener's son, their beloved garden, forbidden love between friends, and the memories of their forbearers that haunt the characters as much as the ghosts do the library.