Auður Ragnarsdóttir asked Jonathan Stroud:

Dear Mr Stroud, I really enjoy your books, but I have a few questions: 1) Why does Lockwood specfically ask for a female when advertising for a new adent? 2) Will we ever get to know more about the Wythburn Mill ghost? 3) Does Lucy keep contact with her sisters and her mother? 4) What are the names of Lucy´s sisters? 5) Why does Lucy´s mother have to wash everything by hand? Thank you!

Jonathan Stroud Great questions. Well, I think Lockwood rather likes female company. George only goes so far. The Wythburn Mill ghost: probably not. As Lucy knows, all the ghosts have their stories, but many of them are lost in the mists of time. Lucy does keep contact with her family (and goes to see them briefly in Book III), but she isn't particularly close to them, to her regret. I'm not sure of the names of her sisters, apart from Mary, who was Lucy's favourite. Lucy's mother washes things by hand because there aren't many washing machines in Lucy's alternative world - technology is lagging behind our world, because 50 years of the Problem has distorted industry and innovation.

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