This book would probably be good for younger teens - of course, I am nowhere near being a younger teen (or even an older teen) and I enjoyed it, so...

The story is set in the early 1900s. We are introduced to Maud, who is an orphan, as she is singing the Battle Hymn of the Republic while locked in the outhouse for misbehaving. Poor Maud has been neglected for so long that she would do almost anything to get someone to notice her and care about her. This part of her character makes what happens to her when the Hawthorne sisters take her from the orphanage and into their home believable. She wants to please them, no matter what they ask - even if what they ask her to do is dishonest. She generally does what the sisters want her to do without too much hesitation. That is, until she meets Mrs. Lambert, who has tragically lost her only daughter - a victim of drowning - about a year before. Also, she starts to realize that the Hawthorne's deaf maid may actually be concerned about her. Maud then begins to really struggle with what she is being asked to do. She is faced with some tough choices for such a young girl. What will she do? I'm not telling! It's worth the read to find out! ( )

If you liked 'A Little Princess's or other orphan & villain gothic YA books, you're gonna love this one. Well executed gothic tale of an orphan who gets pulled into a con artist scheme. Really enjoyed it. ( )

Maud Flynn is an orphan in an early 20th century asylum who is abruptly adopted by three spinster sisters, who have some odd rules for their new ward. She is to help them in their work, and to do that, she must be a secret child. Nobody can know that she is in their home. The only other inhabitant of the house is a partially crippled deaf/mute woman who cooks and cleans.
The family business turns out to be the business of bilking gullible mourning people out of their money by putting on seances and pretending to contact their deceased loved ones.
Maud learns a great deal through the course of the book. Learning that some people who might seem wonderful, are in fact horrors, and others, who might not seem much at all, are the best people in the world.
The setting for the tale, America just at the dawn of the industrial age, is beautifully rendered. ( )

I don't like ghost stories and I don't like stories where clever people get away with stealing and lying. This book was neither. And it was wonderful. ( )

The words from the description, lively, engaging, intriguing, are apt.  This is a lot of fun.  Terrific orphan story too.  Doesn't talk down to its juvenile audience, either.  Should be more widely known & loved.  Is it a little too long?  Are good and bad, black and white, too confusing?  I dunno.  But if you like old-fashioned stories about girls, whether historical or not, orphan or not, paranormal or not, give this a try. ( )