It was good to read this book again. I'm surprised at the difference in my memory of the book and the actuality. I remembered more about the ghost and less about Christina's day to day life. I remembered more music. I know that as a child I loved how grown-up, responsible and independent Christina was in this book. I related to the mistakes she made and was impressed by her ability to look at herself critically and to relate to people of many ages and personalities. A good read both times. ( )

When her father remarries only one year after the death of her mother, Kirsty Newton tries to accept her new stepmother Lois, and to be affectionate and helpful toward her, but finds herself increasingly overcome by feelings of intense rage and sorrow. Bitterly resentful that Lois has achieved an emotional closeness with her undemonstrative father, something she herself has always longed for, and painfully reminded of her loss every time Lois speaks, Kirsty's efforts to suppress her feelings and behave decently lead to a frightening series of anxiety attacks.

When Kirsty is given the opportunity to go away for the summer, to stay on a farm in Norfolk and pick fruit, she jumps at the chance to escape her problems. Settling into her new routine at Old Manor Farm with the friendly and down-to-earth Dillons, Kirsty soon befriends Jake Meryon, the local doctor's son, and becomes caught up in a mystery involving a strange whistling ghost.

Kirsty's struggles to help Jake free himself from the past, as well as to reconcile herself to the changes in her life, make for a satisfying conclusion to this book. Although The Whistling Boy has many elements common to Arthur's work - a modern young women coming to terms with her problems by removing from her home and becoming absorbed in some unresolved tragedy of the past - it is also atypical, in that the heroine is not the primary character involved in the supernatural element of the story. ( )

This is an odd little book. I would have left my previous four star rating stand, except I found the Dinah plotline terribly awkward. It would have been a stronger book without that. Aside from that quibble, it's a lovely story of a young girl figuring out how to get along with her unwelcome stepmother and doing quite a bit of growing up along the way. The supporting characters are sympathetic and real, and the love interest is sorta tortured and vulnerable. The ghostly component of the plot is well-done but not terrifying. ( )

The Whistling Boy is one of Arthur's earlier books. I just read it yesterday for the first time--I wish I'd read it in the 70s; well, I wish that about all the books of hers I missed reading during those years.

This one differs from most of her others in tone: it's more upbeat than most of her books, for one thing, and more linear. The story moves along at a faster pace, and all the relationship problems experienced by the different characters are resolved without ambiguity. Arthur's usual resolution involves romance or the promise of romance in the near future. This one's no different in that regard, but the love interest, Jake, is introduced earlier than usual and is the one who is haunted and needs help.

Kirsty's mother has died and she and her twin brothers and her emotionally distant father are just beginning to pull together as a family when her father suddenly remarries a beautiful woman 20 years younger, only 9 years older than Kirsty. Kirsty immediately resents Lois, even coming to hate her. Lois is good and kind, but Kirsty isn't ready to accept anyone, no matter how kind Lois is and how hard she tries to be a good caregiver to Kirsty and the boys.

Kirsty tries so hard to hide her hatred that she begins to experience frightening panic attacks around Lois. Their beloved housekeeper, Janet, finds Kirsty a summer job picking fruit for a farmer who lives near her sister in Norfolk, on the coast. Janet's sister Suza and her husband, a farmer, live in a 17th century home called The Old Manor Farm, which is the only building left standing after the village it belonged to flooded in the late 1600s. Kirsty finds peace there and also finds becomes close to Jake, the local doctor's son.

But there's a mystery surrounding Jake, a mystery even to himself: something happened to him at the Old Manor Farm when he stayed there for a time and slept in the attic room. He can't remember what happened, but what everyone knows is that he almost drowned sleepwalking. Kirsty begins to uncover the secrets in the attic room and learns the old story of the local ghost: The Whistling Boy. She believes Jake is in danger and does all she can to help him remember what happened during his time at Old Manor Farm so he can find peace and to keep him safe from the whistling boy. ( )