Fiona

by Meredith Moore

Overview

Fiona has a chance to leave her dark past behind.
Fee receives an email from a stranger named Lily, a countess who claims to have known her now-deceased mother. Lily invites her to live in her Scottish castle as an au pair for her young daughter, Poppy.
 
But the family secrets she brings with her will either destroy her . . .
When Fee starts hearing and seeing strange things around the castle at night, Fee is terrified she’s inherited her mother’s illness. She tells no one.
 
Or set her free.
Revealing her true identity might be the only thing that can release Fee from her tragic past. But will anyone believe her? Can Fee even believe herself?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780698157767
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	04/05/2016
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	932,677
File size:	734 KB
Age Range:	12 Years

About the Author

Meredith Moore graduated from Harvard University with a degree in history, focusing on early modern England and France. She lives in Houston, Texas, where she loves pumpkin spice lattes, nineteenth-century British literature, and road trips. She is the author of I Am Her Revenge, which School Library Journal called “a refreshing and dramatic tale with a fearless and fragile protagonist.” Find her on Twitter @writermeredith

Editorial Reviews

03/01/2016
Gr 7 Up—Fiona "Fee" Smith is ready to leave the past behind. Fee is the only child of a wannabe rock star who took off before she was born and Moira Cavendish, a Scottish heiress who left behind her privileged life to follow the would-be star to Texas. After her mother's suicide when she was only 12, Fee has been counting the days until she is free to leave her uninterested aunt's home. When an email from Lady Lily Moffat, an old friend of her mother's, arrives, she is immediately drawn to this opportunity for a new beginning in Scotland as the au pair of Lady Moffat's young daughter. Tragedy strikes the Moffat family shortly before she arrives, and now Fee is needed there more than ever. A chance meeting in the local pub brings Fee face to face with her new employer, young Lord Charles Moffat. But life in the manor is not entirely what she expected. Soon nightly whispers and strange noises that seem to come from outside her window have Fiona worried that she has inherited her mother's mental illness. Romance and suspense fill this breezy YA offering. Characters are not particularly unique or well developed, but the plot moves the story along nicely. The Scottish Highlands setting helps add to the overall gothic mood of the novel. VERDICT For fans of romantic suspense who are looking for a quick, light read.—Elaine Baran Black, Georgia Public Library Service, Atlanta

School Library Journal

2015-12-22
An atmospheric thriller features an orphan searching for a home. For Fiona, called Fee by her friends, going to Scotland after high school is a chance to connect with her deceased mother's roots. Working as an au pair for Lady Lily Moffat, her mother's best friend, seems like a way to really start living. But it doesn't take long for major complications to develop. Even before she arrives, Lily and her husband are killed. Poppy, her charge, is lost in her grief. And Charlie, Poppy's older brother and now legal guardian, is incredibly attractive to Fee—but he has a girlfriend, Blair, who's not about to let Charlie go. As the plot grows ever more labyrinthine, Fee worries she's going crazy, just as her mother did. But is it schizophrenia, or is she being gaslighted? Fee doesn't know whom to trust or turn to—so she'll have to rely on herself to solve the mystery and keep Poppy and Charlie safe, because anyone can be her enemy, even characters who appear to be friends. As a thriller, it's an uneven one. Most of the evil characters lack motivation for their actions, undermining Fee's terror—but that terror is vividly portrayed, heightening the tension. The inevitable romance between Fee and Charlie adds interest for readers not daunted by the novel's length. Scotland, romance, terror—a mostly solid combination. (Romantic thriller. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews