DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "The Whistling Mother" by Grace S. Richmond. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.

FEEL SHIVERS DOWN YOUR SPINE WITH THIS CHILLING AND GRIPPING GHOST STORY SET ON A FAR-FLUNG SCOTTISH ISLAND . . . 'Wonderfully atmospheric, genuinely eerie' GUARDIAN 'Gripping, chilling and very, very satisfying' DAILY MAIL 'A ghost story that kept me guessing' SUSAN STOKES-CHAPMAN 'Perfect for a cold winter's night' DAILY MIRROR 'It will chill you to the bone' ANITA FRANK 'If you're looking for a chilling tale as we head towards Halloween, you've found it' HEAT _________ When Elspeth arrives on a remote Scottish island to become nanny to a young child, she hopes to bond with her. Until she learns that, for reasons no one will explain, Mary has not spoken for months. And the girl's silence is not the only mystery. Hypnotic lullabies drift down empty corridors. Strange dolls appear in abandoned rooms. And as the nights draw in, darker questions arise . . . What happened to Mary's late twin, William? Why did their previous nanny disappear so suddenly? And is the whistling Elspeth hears at night just the storm outside? Or is somebody coming for her . . . ? _________ *Longlisted for the Ondaatje Prize* READERS ARE CHILLED BY THE WHISTLING 'I was sucked in from page one and read it in one fell swoop' 5* READER REVIEW 'A wicked twist . . . brilliant, scary, clever. Horror writing at its best' 5* READER REVIEW 'A great story with moments of heart-grabbing terror, beautifully written' 5* READER REVIEW

A whistling butcher is probably not anything particularly abnormal, she told herself. After all there are plenty of singing butchers, butchers who tell you jokes, butchers who tell you their life stories. But this one, with his little striped apron and his long legs in very short shorts, big feet with footy socks, blue singlet under the apron to match the blue denim shorts, the muscular arms and legs shining, hairless, olive skinned.

Funny, wise and uplifting, Whistling in the Dark is the story of two tough and endearing little girls...and of a time not so long ago, when life was not as innocent as it appeared. It was the summer on Vliet Street when we all started locking our doors... Sally O'Malley made a promise to her daddy before he died. She swore she'd look after her sister, Troo. Keep her safe. But like her Granny always said-actions speak louder than words. Now, during the summer of 1959, the girls' mother is hospitalized, their stepfather has abandoned them for a six pack, and their big sister, Nell, is too busy making out with her boyfriend to notice that Sally and Troo are on the Loose. And so is a murderer and molester. Highly imaginative Sally is pretty sure of two things. Who the killer is. And that she's next on his list. Now she has no choice but to protect herself and Troo as best she can, relying on her own courage and the kindness of her neighbors.

Ambition, deceit, and revenge, driven by feelings first of love and then of hate, motivate the major characters in Whistling on the Stair. It begins in 1981, when D.C. O'Neill, a minor league baseball player, finds himself pulled in several directions by conflicting forces in his life. Leaving his wife Jane and daughter Bobbi behind in Lincoln, Nebraska, he heads off for his third year of spring practice with the California Angels in their Arizona training facility. There he meets the mysterious Kovacek brothers; are they friendly, disinterested baseball fans, as they claim? he wonders, or dangerous characters intent, for reasons only they understand, on disrupting his life? Back home, Jane attempts to help a neighbor and friend deal with the abuse she is suffering at the hands of her husband; Bobbi begins her acting career at the age of four; and Jane faces mounting frustration brought on by the complexities of a life that doesn't challenge her long-stifled creative self. Then, D.C.'s professional baseball career reaches a critical juncture. Matters come to a head when one of the Kovacek brothers decides to take drastic action on what seems to be a revenge motive. Finally, D.C. sees the possibility of advancing to the major leagues, while Bobbi experiences notable success as an actress. Then, a bright future for both of them takes a dramatic turn when a family tragedy puts their dreams on hold. D.C. has to unravel the mystery of the Kovacek brothers as he attempts to establish himself as a professional baseball player and, at the same time, hold his family together.

"The cure for death by lightning was handwritten in thick, messy blue ink in my mother’s scrapbook, under the recipe for my father’s favourite oatcakes: Dunk the dead by lightning in a cold water bath for two hours and if still dead, add vinegar and soak for an hour more." So begins Gail Anderson-Dargatz’s extraordinary first novel, a seductive and thrilling book that captures the heart and imagination, as filled with the magic and mystery of life as it is with its lurking evils and gut-wrenching hardships. The Cure for Death by Lightning sold more than a staggering 100,000 copies in Canada alone and became a bestseller in Great Britain, later to be published in the United States and Europe. It was nominated for the Giller Prize, the richest fiction prize in Canada, and received a Betty Trask Award in the U.K. The Cure for Death by Lightning takes place in the poor, isolated farming community of Turtle Valley, British Columbia, in the shadow of the Second World War. The fifteenth summer of Beth Weeks’s life is full of strange happenings: a classmate is mauled to death; children go missing on the nearby reserve; an unseen predator pursues Beth. She is surrounded by unusual characters, including Nora, the sensual half-Native girl whose friendship provides refuge; Filthy Billy, the hired hand with Tourette’s Syndrome; and Nora’s mother, who has a man’s voice and an extra little finger. Then there’s the darkness within her own family: her domineering, shell-shocked father has fits of madness, and her mother frequently talks to the dead. Beth, meanwhile, must wrestle with her newfound sexuality in a harsh world where nylons, perfume and affection have no place. Then, in a violent storm, she is struck by lightning in her arm, and nothing is quite the same again. She decides to explore the dangers of the bush. Beth is a strong, honest, and compassionate heroine, bringing hope and joy into an environment that is often cruel. The character of Beth’s haunted mother infuses the book with life by means of her scrapbook of recipes scattered throughout, with luscious descriptions of food, gardening, and remedies, both practical and bizarre. Seen through Beth’s eyes, the West Coast landscape is full of beauty and mysteries, with its forests and rivers, and its rich native culture. The Globe and Mail commented that The Cure for Death by Lightning was "Canadian to the core," with hints of Susannah Moodie and Margaret Atwood and Alice Munro. Anderson-Dargatz’s vision of rural life has drawn comparisons with William Faulkner and John Steinbeck. A magic realism reminiscent of Latin American literature is also present, as flowers rain from the sky, and men turn into animals. Yet the style of The Cure for Death by Lightning, which the Boston Globe called "Pacific Northwest Gothic," is wholly original. Launched in a year with more than the usual number of excellent first novels (1996 was also the year of Fall On Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald and Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels), this book with its assured voice heralds a worthy successor to Margaret Atwood, Carol Shields, Margaret Laurence and Alice Munro.