The Long Secret

The Long Secret
First edition
Author Louise Fitzhugh
Illustrator Louise Fitzhugh
Country United States
Series Harriet the Spy
Genre Children's spy novel
Published October 27, 1965
Publisher Harper & Row
Media type Print
Pages 275 (first ed.)[1]
ISBN 0060214104 [2]
OCLC 70458678
LC Class PZ7.F5768 Lo[1]
Preceded by Harriet the Spy
Followed by Sport

The Long Secret is a children's novel written and illustrated by Louise Fitzhugh that was released by Harper & Row on October 27, 1965.[3] It is a sequel or "companion"[1] to Harriet the Spy (1964), the only one published during Fitzhugh's lifetime.

Sport, another sequel to Harriet written by Fitzhugh, was published by the Dell imprint Delacorte Press in 1979.[4]

Plot summary

Harriet and her family are spending their summer in the beach town of Water Mill (which is on Long Island). Her summertime friend, Beth Ellen, sometimes called Mouse, is also in Water Mill with her grandmother. Mysterious anonymous notes start showing up all over town; they have a religious slant and expose the faults of the recipients. Harriet is determined to find out who is leaving them. She suspects anyone who reads the Bible.

Harriet drags Beth Ellen along on spying expeditions directed against Bunny, the piano-playing manager of the local hotel, and the Jenkinses, an eccentric southern family preoccupied with money-making schemes. Harriet's friend Janie and Mrs Plumber from Harriet the Spy also appear.

Beth Ellen learns that her mother, who left when she was five, is returning from Europe with her new husband. Her grandmother expects Beth Ellen to be excited by the news but she is indifferent. Her mother Zeeney turns out to be a beautiful but shallow socialite who is dissatisfied with her shy and serious daughter. Beth Ellen's dislike of her mother finally explodes in a temper tantrum which clears her head, leaving her happier and more confident.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "The long secret". LC Online Catalog. Library of Congress. Retrieved 2014-12-29.
  2. ↑ Unknown later Harper & Row edition OCLC 301131.
  3. ↑ "The Long Secret by Louise Fitzhugh {...}". Kirkus Reviews. October 1, 1965. Retrieved 2014-07-22.
  4. ↑ "Sport". LC Online Catalog. Retrieved 2014-12-29.
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