Haunted Waters

I just recently finished reading Haunted Waters by Mary Pope Osborne. In the short novella (I read it in about four or five hours) Lord Huldbrand stops over at the little cottage of an elderly fisherman and his wife who has gone mad, after getting lost in the spooky forest behind the cottage. There he meets the spellbinding Undine and falls in love with her. Huldbrand is to leave the next morning, however, a powerful storm prevents him from leaving, and he ends up staying with the family for a couple of days - days in which he and Undine end up madly in love. One day, as if by some miracle, a priest shipwrecks on the shores of the cottage and marries Huldbrand and Undine. Huldbrand takes Undine away from the cottage and the sea to his castle at Ringstetten. Undine misses the sea terribly - she feels a deep unexplainable connection to the ocean. As time goes by Huldbrand begins to suspect that his new wife is not from this world. Where is she really from? Who is she truly? Something beautiful or something wicked? Huldbrand is about to find out...

Mary Pope Osborne has written a brilliant and haunting version of this 19th century German folk tale. Genuinely scary in some places and utterly sweet and romantic in others, she keeps you turning the pages, grasping for the next bit of the mystery. You desperately want to find out the truth about Undine. Huldbrand is the dashing Knight in Shining Armor that any girl would dream about. Undine is tragically beautiful and seems to have a genuine love for nature - particularly water. She is a tragic character in that she feels such a deep connection to the ocean, a pull that won't let her go, yet she wants to be with Huldbrand at Ringstetten, to be the beautiful, happy princess that everyone thinks she is.

Even though this book is aimed at ages 12-15, I think it is a timeless story that anyone can read at any age. I really loved this story and will definately read it again, maybe on some spooky Halloween night. So chose a dark, stormy night, light some candles, turn off the TV and phone, and see if you can figure out who Undine really is.