** spoiler alert ** Page 1: Meet Maud Flynn singing "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" while being locked in the outhouse for her misbehaviors. When Maud Flynn is selected from the orphanage by the charming Miss Hyacinth and her three phony spiritualist sisters, the fun is just beginning. It seems the sisters need Maud to help stage elaborate séances for bereaved, wealthy patrons. As Maud is drawn deeper into the deception, playing her role as a "secret child," she is torn between her need to please and her growing conscience — until a shocking betrayal makes clear just how heartless her so-called guardians are (when a fire occurs at their house, the three sisters flee, leaving Maud behind to be burned. A happy ending is just around the corner when the wealthy mother who wanted to meet her drowned daughter's spirit at a séance comes to love Maud and decides to create a home with her. The plot is filled with wonderful details of 1909 turn-of-the-century spiritualism. It is a page-turning, "can't put it down story, with a heroine you will want to root for.