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Yonder
"I almost envy you," Olive York's friend told her, on learning that Olive was going to Yonder Key as a nurse for the mentally ill Zoé Croome. "Yonder Key is like living in a shell, with the sound of the sea all around."
But when Olive reached the luxurious, gloomy Croome mansion, where the family had isolated themselves for thirty years, she was struck by a sense of danger and evil in the household. Where did it come from? From Zoé, who seemd gentle, but who hid knives and ropes in her room when not watched? From Zoé's embittered sister Joanna, who didn't want Olive to try to cure Zoé? From the strangely silent servant Ezra?
Alone in the world, Olive has no place else to go. She must stay at Yonder - to help Zoé, and save herself from the unseen danger of YONDER.
But when Olive reached the luxurious, gloomy Croome mansion, where the family had isolated themselves for thirty years, she was struck by a sense of danger and evil in the household. Where did it come from? From Zoé, who seemd gentle, but who hid knives and ropes in her room when not watched? From Zoé's embittered sister Joanna, who didn't want Olive to try to cure Zoé? From the strangely silent servant Ezra?
Alone in the world, Olive has no place else to go. She must stay at Yonder - to help Zoé, and save herself from the unseen danger of YONDER.
242 pages
First published January 1, 1955
1 person is currently reading
48 people want to read
About the author
Margaret Bell Houston
22 books1 followerMargaret Bell Houston (also Margaret Bell Houston Kauffman, 1877 – June 22, 1966) was an American writer and suffragist who lived in Texas and New York. Houston published over 20 novels, most of them set in Texas. Houston's work was also published in Good Housekeeping and McCalls in serial format.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
September 5, 2013
This is not a review so much as a reflection on reading, and the power of a good book to take you back in time, and the lazy last days of summer in the pre-Internet world. If that's going to bother you, you should probably read another review.
Anyway.
Every summer when I was a child I went to my grandparents' house to stay for the week in August between day camp and school, when it was still hot and muggy, but you could sense that it wouldn't be long before the weather cooled off. In the mornings I ran errands with my grandmother, or entertained myself while she worked around the house, and then we'd cook lunch for my grandfather, who came home every single day to a ridiculously huge lunch: fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, white bread, sliced tomatoes, and dessert, for example. We would serve iced tea from a blue pitcher that was always on a shelf in the refrigerator. My grandparents had blue glasses, and I had a jelly glass with Yogi Bear on it.
After lunch, my grandfather would go back to "work" (he had retired, but he had a tiny office in the back of the store he had sold--who knows what he did, but it seemed to keep him busy) My grandmother and I would clean up, and then settle in, her on the sofa, me in a scratchy brown recliner by a picture window that looked out on the "lake" (really just a fairly large pond) beyond their back yard. She would watch her "stories" and I would read. Sometimes she would play hymns on the Hammond organ. By ear. Yes, indeed.
I had my favorite selection of reading material; it never varied, and by the end of the week I would have read it all. It included the sequel to Cheaper by the Dozen, Belles On Their Toes; two comics left by my Baby-Boomer cousins--Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #something-or-other and Silver Surfer #1, I think (the origin story); Bennet Cerf's Encyclopedia of Modern American Humor; and Yonder, a spooky little romantic suspense story set in the 1920s and '30s. Later, we'd cook a big dinner, and my grandfather would come home, and we'd sit in the den and watch detective shows like Charlie's Angels or Mannix as the sun set over the lake, and eat the last of the dessert from lunch.
This has been the kind of summer where I wish I could go back and sit in my grandfather's recliner, and eat fried chicken for lunch with white bread and gravy, and spend the afternoon reading by the picture window, trying not to drip chocolate from an Eskimo Pie on the pages of Yonder and ignoring Days of Our Lives or "How Great Thou Art" (with enough reverb to register on the Richter scale) in the background.
So I'm reading Yonder again, and if anything, I'm finding it even more magical as an adult than I did as a child of 11 (or 12, 13, 14, 15...). I had a hard time giving it a star rating; I've read it so many times, and for so long, that I can no longer read it objectively. The first five or six times, it was just the story that pulled me in, because it's a really good story. But as I get older I truly appreciate Margaret Bell Houston's lovely use of the language and her ability to draw timeless characters (in more ways than one).
If you like good old-fashioned romantic suspense, try to get a copy of this book. I've seen it at a dozen book sales and thrift stores through the years; it's not hard to find. As a matter of fact, these days I'm pretty sure it's easier to find than an Eskimo Pie.
Anyway.
Every summer when I was a child I went to my grandparents' house to stay for the week in August between day camp and school, when it was still hot and muggy, but you could sense that it wouldn't be long before the weather cooled off. In the mornings I ran errands with my grandmother, or entertained myself while she worked around the house, and then we'd cook lunch for my grandfather, who came home every single day to a ridiculously huge lunch: fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, white bread, sliced tomatoes, and dessert, for example. We would serve iced tea from a blue pitcher that was always on a shelf in the refrigerator. My grandparents had blue glasses, and I had a jelly glass with Yogi Bear on it.
After lunch, my grandfather would go back to "work" (he had retired, but he had a tiny office in the back of the store he had sold--who knows what he did, but it seemed to keep him busy) My grandmother and I would clean up, and then settle in, her on the sofa, me in a scratchy brown recliner by a picture window that looked out on the "lake" (really just a fairly large pond) beyond their back yard. She would watch her "stories" and I would read. Sometimes she would play hymns on the Hammond organ. By ear. Yes, indeed.
I had my favorite selection of reading material; it never varied, and by the end of the week I would have read it all. It included the sequel to Cheaper by the Dozen, Belles On Their Toes; two comics left by my Baby-Boomer cousins--Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #something-or-other and Silver Surfer #1, I think (the origin story); Bennet Cerf's Encyclopedia of Modern American Humor; and Yonder, a spooky little romantic suspense story set in the 1920s and '30s. Later, we'd cook a big dinner, and my grandfather would come home, and we'd sit in the den and watch detective shows like Charlie's Angels or Mannix as the sun set over the lake, and eat the last of the dessert from lunch.
This has been the kind of summer where I wish I could go back and sit in my grandfather's recliner, and eat fried chicken for lunch with white bread and gravy, and spend the afternoon reading by the picture window, trying not to drip chocolate from an Eskimo Pie on the pages of Yonder and ignoring Days of Our Lives or "How Great Thou Art" (with enough reverb to register on the Richter scale) in the background.
So I'm reading Yonder again, and if anything, I'm finding it even more magical as an adult than I did as a child of 11 (or 12, 13, 14, 15...). I had a hard time giving it a star rating; I've read it so many times, and for so long, that I can no longer read it objectively. The first five or six times, it was just the story that pulled me in, because it's a really good story. But as I get older I truly appreciate Margaret Bell Houston's lovely use of the language and her ability to draw timeless characters (in more ways than one).
If you like good old-fashioned romantic suspense, try to get a copy of this book. I've seen it at a dozen book sales and thrift stores through the years; it's not hard to find. As a matter of fact, these days I'm pretty sure it's easier to find than an Eskimo Pie.
June 9, 2015
I am a little surprised that I liked this book because a lot of sad things happened. The book was so intriguing, though, that I was able to look past that a little more. I was anxious to find out the mystery of what happened to Zoe years before. The book kept me guessing, which I really liked.
August 18, 2016
I read this as a teenager and several times throughout my adult life. I recently found my tattered old copy while moving and enjoyed it once more. I think it would make a great movie.
July 16, 2025
A friend wrote such a convincing review of this book, I wanted to read it. My huge county library system did not have it. The city library did not have it. Amazon.com did not have it. I found a copy on EBay - $4.50, free shipping. It was worth it.
First published in 1955, this paperback edition was printed in 1966. It's a slim 156 pages, but these pages are filled with a little smaller and much tighter printing than a lot of books today.
And in that 156 pages is packed a decent little mystery, with a touch of the paranormal and a little romance - spare and tight, nothing superfluous. It might be a good example of how to tell a story with enough detail to paint the picture and not drench it with over-explaining. The atmosphere, characters, and scenes were all vibrant and well-represented. I was interested from the first. The writing was clean and comfortable, even lovely. I could see some of what was coming a little before it arrived, but that didn't matter, as the story was told so well. I could feel the dread, the light, the joy, the sadness.
One of the passages I love, during a hurricane: "...the rain hammering on the roof, nailing it down, so that the murderous, bellowing, raging wind wouldn't tear it off."
Silly note: I've been creating my own reading challenge for the year. When I got this book, I thought a good category would be 'A book written the year you were born.' Since this isn't the year I was born, I changed it to 'decade you were born' and added it to my challenge. That's not usually how a challenge is made. Usually the categories are set and THEN you find a book to fit :)
First published in 1955, this paperback edition was printed in 1966. It's a slim 156 pages, but these pages are filled with a little smaller and much tighter printing than a lot of books today.
And in that 156 pages is packed a decent little mystery, with a touch of the paranormal and a little romance - spare and tight, nothing superfluous. It might be a good example of how to tell a story with enough detail to paint the picture and not drench it with over-explaining. The atmosphere, characters, and scenes were all vibrant and well-represented. I was interested from the first. The writing was clean and comfortable, even lovely. I could see some of what was coming a little before it arrived, but that didn't matter, as the story was told so well. I could feel the dread, the light, the joy, the sadness.
One of the passages I love, during a hurricane: "...the rain hammering on the roof, nailing it down, so that the murderous, bellowing, raging wind wouldn't tear it off."
Silly note: I've been creating my own reading challenge for the year. When I got this book, I thought a good category would be 'A book written the year you were born.' Since this isn't the year I was born, I changed it to 'decade you were born' and added it to my challenge. That's not usually how a challenge is made. Usually the categories are set and THEN you find a book to fit :)
March 13, 2025
2025 update: I still remember this book and the pleasure of reading it!
A satisfying and haunting story. The writing is lovely, the setting immersive, the central characters convincing and the psychological aspect powerful. I really feel like I’ve been on Yonder Key with Zoe. I wish I could remember more as I read it months ago, but the impression this short book left has stayed with me. I’ll update my review after I re-read it.
A satisfying and haunting story. The writing is lovely, the setting immersive, the central characters convincing and the psychological aspect powerful. I really feel like I’ve been on Yonder Key with Zoe. I wish I could remember more as I read it months ago, but the impression this short book left has stayed with me. I’ll update my review after I re-read it.
March 20, 2009
This is a mystery that I read when I was a young teen, but I have read again as an adult. It left an impression and inspired me to learn more about psychology.
January 7, 2015
One of the first fiction books I can remember reading, probably when I was in fourth or fifth grade. I only remember the basic plot, but I do remember it had an emotional impact.
June 8, 2025
An old book, published in 1955 that I found in a thrift store. After Olive's parents are killed in a plane crash, she takes a job as a "companion" to a mentally ill woman who has lots of secrets hidden away in her mind. Takes place on a small Florida key in an old mansion. Lots of twists and turns and sometimes Haunting, but I liked it. I rate it a 3.5.
February 24, 2017
This needs to be a film.
Published in 1955, the story takes place in the late 1920's and early 1930's but spans nearly the entire century. Similar to Daphne Du Maurier's gothic story Rebecca, it is told by a young woman who moves to a castle-like home on a privately owned island in the Florida keys in an attempt to escape a personal ghost. As companion to a mentally unstable but beautiful and enchanting woman who seems to be her own age she begins to unravel a mystery and finds herself caught up in the middle of it. The story weaves love, hate, jealousy, greed, metaphysics, loss, and more in a love story that steps outside of time -- all in less than 150 pages!
I found this book at a library book sale and have had it on one of my many "to read someday" shelves. One of my goals for this year is to read one book a month that I own and have not read and this was on the shelf I selected. My intention was to then give it back. Who knew it would be so good I'd want to keep it. For awhile, anyway.
Published in 1955, the story takes place in the late 1920's and early 1930's but spans nearly the entire century. Similar to Daphne Du Maurier's gothic story Rebecca, it is told by a young woman who moves to a castle-like home on a privately owned island in the Florida keys in an attempt to escape a personal ghost. As companion to a mentally unstable but beautiful and enchanting woman who seems to be her own age she begins to unravel a mystery and finds herself caught up in the middle of it. The story weaves love, hate, jealousy, greed, metaphysics, loss, and more in a love story that steps outside of time -- all in less than 150 pages!
I found this book at a library book sale and have had it on one of my many "to read someday" shelves. One of my goals for this year is to read one book a month that I own and have not read and this was on the shelf I selected. My intention was to then give it back. Who knew it would be so good I'd want to keep it. For awhile, anyway.
April 1, 2022
Great book- hated to finish it… Reminding me of forgotten times and some regret. But everything goes the way it’s supposed to, so we move forward.
July 21, 2024
I loved this book and thought it was beautifully written.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews