Deep, Dark and Dangerous
When thirteen year old Ali packs up to spend the summer at her family’s vacation home, “Gull Cottage” with her aunt Dulcie and cousin Emma, she is not prepared for an unpredicted summer. Ali stumbles upon a secret that her mom and aunt have been hiding for the thirty years. Sissy is mean, spiteful and is determined to ruin Ali’s summer. Sissy repeatedly appears at the beach house, discussing a girl named Teresa.
According to Sissy, Teresa drowned under mysterious circumstances back when Ali’s mom, and Dulcie were kids. During her stay, Ali tries to discover the truth about what happened to Teresa. It all started when Ali found a photograph of her mother, Aunt Dulcie and she noticed that a young girl had been ripped out of the picture. On the back of the picture, the names Claire, Dulcie were written out but the mysterious girl’s name only showed a “T” crossed out.. This situation caused a great deal of conflicts such as character vs. character and character vs. self. Mary Downing Haul is at her thrilling best in this new super-natural tale. This novel is certain to send chills down your spine.
One example of a character vs. character conflict would be that Ali and Sissy don’t agree on anything throughout the story. For example, Sissy thinks Emma should listen to her, and not Ali. This is an example of a character vs. character conflict because the two characters are fighting against each other. Another conflict portrayed in the book, is character vs. self. For example, when Ali started to be paranoid about Sissy always showing up unexpectedly. This is an example of character vs. self because Ali is disagreeing with herself and doubting that what she thought she knew was true. In Deep and Dark and Dangerous, Mary Downing Haul foreshadows in many different places. Foreshadowing is when the author of a book gives the reader small clues of that will happen later in the book. An example of foreshadowing in this story, is when Ali chases Sissy into a graveyard and Sissy suddenly disappears. This is an example of foreshadowing because Mary Downing Haul is giving a hint about Sissy’s whereabouts. This book will make you shiver with fright and delight, as Ali discovers that sometimes things aren’t what they have always seemed like
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Author: Mary Downing Haul