WHISTLER IN THE MIST

by Rosalie K. Fry ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 16, 1968

A pedestrian blend of romantic mystery and adjustment to new surroundings for Rosemary Howells, visiting Welsh cousins after growing up in Borneo. Dilys and Ivor, both older, are cool and secretive so the eleven-year-old befriends Aunt Betony, an honest hut-dwelling herbalist (without a touch of that sticky juvenile witchery) who introduces the girl to her family legend of a (not the) Lady of the Lake. Rosemary's sensitive ears hear a shrill whistling in the mist, and her cousins' attempts to divert her attention just increase her curiosity. She discovers, way up in the mountains, a foxlike pup whose friendliness helps her overcome both loneliness and a fear of dogs. In a rushed resolution her ""Foxy"" is revealed as Ivor's secretly raised sheep dog Smoke whom granddad had ordered killed at birth, and the whistle is Ivor's too although few humans hear it (she is younger, so it is possible?). That makes the cousins cosier and then. . . fire! More accelerated contrivance as Rosemary points out a secret cave to protect the sheep and Smoke leads the way, which later convinces granddad of his worth. The more obvious sources of conflict -- i.e. between Borneo and Welsh ways -- are totally ignored and the jagges pieces don't fit into the square corners.

Pub Date: Sept. 16, 1968

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Farrar, Straus & Giroux

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1968

Categories: FICTION