Book #23: The Caged Graves by Dianne K. Salerni

This book is set in post-Civil War Pennsylvania, following Verity Boone, who is returning to live with her father after growing up with her cousins in the big city. She is engaged to be married to Nate, a neighbor of her father's, and she is disappointed when she comes home and nothing is how she imagined it. Worst of all, she finds her mother's grave in the graveyard is covered with a large cage--and nobody will explain why. How did her mother die? And why is she in a cage? Is it to keep the dead in, or to keep other people out?

I think the most successful part of this book was the time period and setting--it was very interesting and I got caught up in the time period. Normally when you think of Civil War you think of the South, not of rural Pennsylvania, and I liked having a different area to think about and imagine. A lot of the specific parts of this story were kind of annoying, though--like the love triangle Verity finds herself in (the attractive doctor's apprentice just seems completely unreal). Verity's relationship with Nate and how he eventually declares his love for her was very overdone. I also didn't understand how nobody will explain to her what happened to her mother. She eventually finds out the truth, but then there is a very dramatic scene at the end that just seems absolutely crazy. It was a little bit hard to swallow. But overall, this was still an interesting read--and it was quick enough that it felt satisfying without dragging on.