Ivory Apples

At the heart of this expansive but uneven fairy tale from Goldstein (Weighing Shadows) is a reclusive author with a magical secret that many would kill to know. To sisters Ivy, Beatriz, Amaranth, and Semiramis, the famous Adela Madden is just Great-Aunt Maeve. They’ve been taught to keep her identity a secret, which they never question, until Kate Burden, a strange, mercurial woman, ingratiates herself into their family and starts asking questions. Ivy, the oldest, is the first to question Ms. Burden’s intentions, egged on by Piper, a trickster creature she met in the woods who has taken up residency somewhere deep inside her. A year later, the girls’ father dies and leaves them in the care of Ms. Burden, whom 12-year-old Ivy, channeling Piper’s nastiness into her note-perfect tween moral certitude, calls a “malicious, mendacious, overweening smudge” and a “cut-rate Bonnie and Clyde.” Ivy runs away from home to protect what she knows of the family secrets and to discover the truth about their aunt, her stories, and the source of inspiration itself. Though the mystery of Ms. Burden’s obsession is sure to keep readers turning pages, she never evolves beyond a cartoonish villain, and the lengthy section of Ivy learning more about magic makes it difficult to keep a firm grasp on the other characters. Though overstuffed and underdeveloped, this fantasy is nonetheless suspenseful. (Sept.)