The Caged Graves
Author: Dianne Salerni
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Published: May 2014
*On order at the library
Summary:
The year is 1867, and seventeen-year-old Verity Boone is excited to return from Worcester, Massachusetts, to Catawissa, Pennsylvania, the hometown she left when she was just a baby. Now she will finally meet the fiancé she knows only through letters! Soon, however, she discovers two strangely caged graves . . . and learns that one of them is her own mother's. Verity swears she'll get to the bottom of why her mother was buried in "unhallowed ground" in this suspenseful teen mystery that swirls with rumors of witchcraft, buried gold from the days of the War of Independence, and even more shocking family secrets.
My Review:
* Please be aware there are some spoilers within the review.
I recently read The Caged
Graves by Dianne K. Salerni after being intrigued by its cliché but
mysterious and elegant cover. The story stars a seventeen year-old girl, Verity
Boone, who returns to her birth town Catawissa, Pennsylvania, to marry her fiancé
Nathaniel. When Verity was two years old, she was put into the care of her aunt
by her father after her mother had died. With her return, she has to learn how
to adjust to a life in the countryside with her father and fiancée and abandon
the city life that she had been so use to. When he and Nate first meet, he
takes her to the cemetery where she sees the graves of her mother and aunt
underneath cages. She realizes how little she knew about her mother’s death and
begins the search for the reason behind the caged graves. The people in the
town have kept their mouth shout, leaking very little valuable
information. The townspeople were more willing to gossip about how she
stole the most eligible bachelor of Catawissa. Some pessimists were also
hinting that Nathaniel only married her in order to receive her father's
farmland as a dowry. Her struggles escalate when a new suitor shows up and
steals her heart. Will she break off the engagement? Will she discover why her
mother's grave is surrounded by a cage?
Dianne K. Salerni created a fantastic
plot that put a unique twist on the popular gothic and supernatural themes.
Descriptions of her two suitors are believable, but still fulfill the mold
of the dreamy alpha male. The book was a real page turner because the suspense
behind who were hiding the secret of the graves and who Verity was going to
choose to marry was unbearable. Everything about the book was engaging and difficult
to predict. The ending is especially audacious and unexpected creating a very
satisfying finale. Unfortunately, I found the writing a little weak. The
vocabulary was sophisticated appropriate for the 1867 setting but the sentence
structure was very simple. Sentences with room to add adjective and adverbs
resembled the following example: "She selected her very best gown - a
green bodice and scalloped skirt over a full ivory underskirt shot through with
gold thread." Sentences without room to use the thesaurus sounded like
this: “Her aunt directed the horses into the woods, where the road grew even
more narrow and rough.” Overall, it made for an interesting read but wouldn't
be an ideal choice for an ISU because the plot lacks depth.
The parts of the story that aren't
about her romantic moments with both suitors are about her reaching numerous
dead ends in her search for the truth behind her mother's death. Except Verity
doesn't connect the evidence she discovers from the dead ends until the last fifty
pages. She knows that Aunt Clara is against her marriage. She knows that her aunt
and mother died on the same day with the same symptoms. She knows that the two
sister-in-laws both died of poisoning. She knows that her new suitor
mysteriously appears wherever she meets kidnappers. However, she is unable to
connect any of the information until the mastermind behind all these events
confess. If Verity could connect the evidence it would have added more depth to
the plot.
The book definitely falls into mystery/gothic/romance
because, despite the fact that the major conflict is about discovering the
mystery behind Verity's mother's death, most of the story is about Verity
making a decision about which suitor she prefers. The author tastefully sways
our opinion about which man was her soul mate; this keeps the reader hungry for
scenes that allow the players in the love triangle to interact. The cover appears
to be mysterious, but the story doesn't built up enough suspense to allow the
mystery aspects to shine. However, the author perfected the gothic part
of the gothic romance. The vocabulary, level of etiquette and lack of
promiscuous content all help to create a convincing 1867 atmosphere.
The protagonist, Verity, is very
believable because she is not cliché. She is a strong independent woman who
wants to find her own happiness. She makes mistakes when meeting Nathaniel, but
isn’t afraid to correct them. She doesn’t depend on her partner to give her all
the love and protection. Her dedication to the causes that she believes in is
also admirable. Her fiancée Nathanial is shown to be flawed, unlike many other
male characters in teen romance today. He often visits without a calling card,
an action unwelcomed by Verity. He also isn’t too charismatic. In a matter of
fact, Nate frequently says the wrong thing, but it is adorable because it is authentic
and truthful.
My favourite scene was when Verity
meets Nathaniel for the first time. Nathaniel shows up unexpectedly to take
Verity for a walk. Verity was just working in the kitchen and wasn’t dressed in
an outfit that would make a good first impression on a man she would spend the
rest of her life with. Throughout the walk Verity is so awkward and stubborn
while Nathaniel is trying to be as accepting as possible. Verity complains, “It’s
very pretty, although I haven’t seen much of it yet. My father brought me
straight home from the station, and he’s been in the fields ever since.” Nate
defends her father by saying, “He works hard. It’s a big property. And this is
a busy time of year for a farm.” This date is perfect because it is filled with
flaws. Real dates aren’t the epitome of perfection that stories describe them
to be, yet they are still beautiful. The location is casual, which allows the
focus to be on their unique personalities.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book because it was a relaxing read that provided a fantastic outline. The way the story is set up reminded me of Anne of Green Gables in the sense that both settings are dull in order to put more focus on the well-developed character. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys mystery and romance. However, I really didn’t like who Verity chose as a husband. I would have preferred the other suitor.
Happy Reading,
Betty Zhang
Teen Reviewer
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