Gaps in Stone Walls

A curious historical fact lends color to Neufeld's (Lisa, Bright and Dark; Almost a Hero) carefully researched if uneven novel: in the late 19th century, hereditary deafness affected at least one-fifth of the population of Chilmark, a town on Martha's Vineyard. Among this group is Merry Skiffe, an artistic 12-year-old whose peaceful life unravels when wealthy miser Ned Nickerson is murdered on a dark road one Saturday night and Merry finds herself among the four residents of Chilmark who have no alibi. Terrified of bringing shame on her family, the girl runs away from home, scheming to escape from the island with her eloping cousin. Merry's smoothly integrated reveries provide flashbacks that give impressive dimension to her resourcefulness in coping with her deafness. Neufeld's treatment of the murder mystery, however, is somewhat unsettling. Merry and the villagers view Nickerson as so base that he deserved to die, an impression corrobated by the author when he reveals the killer's identity only to readers and not to the other characters, allowing him to get away with his crime. Pacing, too, is problematic, with much of the novel's action unfolding as a repetitious, laborious chronicle of Merry's furtive journey across the countryside. On the other hand, Neufeld evokes the terrain she covers so vividly that readers may feel as though they are following closely behind the plucky heroine-darting through rolling pastures, creeping along stone walls and breathing in the salty air. Ages 10-14. (Apr.)