What it's about
A traveling bag, a mermaid mirror, and four nesting dolls. Is that enough to break a family curse?
The Weathersby sisters live on Crow's End, like all the relatives of the prisoners in the local prison. They are cared for by their strict grandmother, who makes them help out in the inn. The girls' world seems confined to a small island, where every day is like the one before.
But the middle sister, Betty, wants more. She collects maps of distant lands and dreams of travel. On Halloween Eve, on her thirteenth birthday, Betty decides to set out. She wants to loosen the "tight corset of life"! Betty's decision sets off a series of frightening discoveries and astonishing adventures. And the familiar turns out not to be so simple.
"Here, in the mist-shrouded marshes, she was not just the middle Weathersby sister: plain compared to pretty Fliss, sensible compared to mischievous little Charlie. Here she was Betty the Brave, Betty the Adventurer! She could go anywhere and do anything!"
The Weathersby girls are trapped by an ancient family curse. Thirteen-year-old Betty, together with her sisters—sixteen-year-old Fliss and six-year-old Charlie—risks their lives to challenge fate. To defeat the evil spell and gain their freedom, they will need ingenuity and courage, and, of course, trust and friendship. But what do magical objects and witches have to do with it? And will the girls manage to do what even the adults could not? Who will they meet on their adventures? Will the mysterious strangers be kind to them, or will they simply take advantage of their desperation?
"There are no completely good people, no completely bad people. Sometimes the best people do the worst things, and the worst, on the contrary, the noblest and most heroic deeds. Whatever they may have done before."
