‘Goodbye Holly Jane’ by Maureen Peters

Published by Constable,
18 October 2002.
ISBN: 978-1-83119-405-0 (HB)

Cordy Sullivan is twelve years old and lives very much in the shadow of her elder sister Susan. During the school holidays, with her best friend Sandra away on holiday, Cordy feels neglected and overlooked as her parents devote endless discussion and energy over Susan’s decision to move into a flat with a friend in a nearby town. Feeling lonely and abandoned Cordy visits a favourite play area, the old, abandoned Tyler house on the Yorkshire Moors, and is intrigued to find that new people have moved into the house.  When she meets the new occupants Fred and Fay Maitland she is transported into a different world, a world where she is welcomed and wanted and important: And so, Cordy wants to keep these people to herself.

When one of Cordy’s school friends disappears, she seeks solace within the warmth and fun offered by Fay and Fred, listening to tales and looking forward to the time when their daughter Holly and son Edward, currently staying with an aunt until the house is ready, will soon be joining them.

Although normally Strict. Cordy’s parents are so wrapped up in Susan, their supervision of Cordy is patchy, and when Cordy’s friend Sandra returns from her holiday, she enters into a secret with her friend. A secret that will have terrible consequences.

Written in the first person from the point of view of a twelve-year-old, I found this book utterly fascinating. I admit that I was so spellbound by the fantasy that I missed many obvious clues that pointed to the solution, but maybe that is the strength of the true storyteller.
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Reviewer: Lizzie Hayes

Maureen Peters (1935-2008) was born in Caernarvon, North Wales. She was educated at grammar school and attended the University College of North Wales, Bangor, where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree and a diploma of Education. For some time, she taught retarded children, and then took up writing. She has produced many books and contributed short stories to many magazines.  She also wrote as Veronica Black, Catherine Darby, Elizabeth Law, Judith Rothman, Sharon Whitby