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The Sign of The Scales
Marianne Brandis
Historical Fiction (Trilogy)
Ages 12 and up
Tundra, 2003, 0-88776-625-0
Emma is quite well settled in her new life. She now works in many different capacities in her aunt's hotel and her aunt, Mrs. McPhail, seems to have a growing confidence in her abilities. Then Mrs. McPhail gives her a new, and very different, job. Emma is to go and help out at a shop that her aunt has a financial interest in. The owner's wife is now very ill and she cannot help her husband any more. Mrs. McPhail feels that Emma will be able to help the man and also that she can get a feel for how the business is doing, in other words "keep an eye on things. Naturally Emma will be expected to report back to Mrs. McPhail on what she finds.
Emma has never worked in a shop before but she hopes that her experience of working in the hotel will stand her in good stead. As it happens there is much for her to learn. Not only that, but Emma starts to get the distinct impression that something decidedly peculiar is going on in her town. She has heard about smugglers and their doings and is beginning to feel that it is very likely that they are in York, and not that far away. Emma worries that smugglers may be linked to the shop and, worse still, that her brother John may be involved in some way.
An excellent mystery and also a study in the adaptability of the human spirit, this book is both engaging and offers an interesting portrait of a life in Canada in the 1830's.
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