Jane Langton crafts stories that delve into the intricate connections between people and place, often setting her narratives in the evocative landscapes of Massachusetts. Her writing is characterized by a keen insight into human psychology and a distinctive narrative style. Langton fluidly moves between genres, from compelling mysteries to poignant children's stories, always maintaining her unique authorial voice. Her ability to create vivid characters and immersive settings solidifies her reputation as a significant literary figure.
When Harvard's Memorial Hall is bombed, the shattering of its huge rose windows resounds throughout the campus; but when a corpulent and headless corpse is found amid the debris, and the big, beloved chorus leader, Hamilton Dow, cannot be located, more than the peace and quiet of an illustrious university is disturbed. Is the corpse that of the missing conductor?
It all started when Georgie, hardly more than a wisp of thistledown, discovered she could jump down twelve steps in two big graceful bounds. Next, to her great delight, she learned that jumping from the porch and floating as high as the rooftop was possible too. So when the mysterious Canada goose came to her window one night it seemed only natural to climb onto his back and go off with him to learn how to really fly.Jane Langton spins a marvelous fantasy that wild delight all who dream that someday, somehow, we will magically find ourselves aloft and suddenly able to fly!
As part-time detective Homer Kelly sets off on his search for answers to the death of a young priest, who left nothing behind but an inauspicious and cryptic note, he finds a crime far more sinister and troubling. Reprint.