Tuppenny

Who is Tuppenny? A quiet, lovely, mysterious girl appears in a small valley town one day, and the lives of the townspeople will never be the same. She works hard at the jobs she finds, she doesn't pry, she doesn't preach ... and yet the dark, shameful secrets & regrets of each family begin to emerge. What was hidden, what was denied, invariably comes to light. And the individuals are given the choice of dealing with it, or hiding even more desperately from themselves & the truth. Wounds are healed, breaches within families are mended ... but as Tuppenny continues to descend more deeply into the darkness of the town, she is faced with a genuine, horrifying evil, a twisted & corrupt parody of both family & worship. And this final trial may be greater than even she can survive. It's the undeserved fate of most children's authors to be forgotten after a couple of decades. But Julia Cunningham's works have a depth & a way of touching both the heart & mind, and should be reprinted & rediscovered by newer generations. In all her books, the power of grace & compassion is paramount -- but she doesn't stint on the power of cruelty, greed, and the warped, insatiable hunger for control. These may be children's books, but they present the problem of evil in very stark terms. Once read, they're not easily forgotten. Most highly recommended! (If you enjoy this novel, I also suggest "Flight of the Sparrow," and her trilogy of "Burnish Me Bright," "Far in the Day," and "The Silent Voice.")