"The Mystery of the Creaking Windmill" by Harriet Evatt, illustrated by the author, published by Bobbs-Merrill Company, Indianapolis and New York, 1945. First Edition. Children's / Young Adult novel set on the French-Canadian Island of Orleans near Quebec.

Hard boards, original publisher's blue cloth with gilt lettering on front board and spine [a little wear and soiling, a dark circle on the front board]; 5.3/4" x 8.3/4"; illustrated endpapers [inscription and "Blanche Caral Wade" on the front endpaper, 243 pages, several b/w illustrations, a little soiling, very good condition.

"The author illustrated it, and her black and white drawings of the Chapelain family are utterly charming. So is the story of these French Canadian Habitants on the Island of Orleans. In the 1700s a Chapelain ancestor hid the family treasure before fleeing from an Iroquois raid. He left clues for his family, but the most important clue disappeared, the this first Jacques Chapelain never returned. In what I would take to be the 1930s or so, the Chapelain family are poor but hard-working. Ten year old Jacques delivers coal oil by snow shoe and does other odd jobs in between his schooling. Through a series of events (improbable ones, but it's a sweet story, so let's not quibble), he gains a blind horse when he saves another farmer's horses from a barn fire, discovers the family treasure, and is rewarded for his hard work by being given a partnership in his uncle's business for his 11th birthday. Strong work ethic, family relationships, thrift, and care for animals are modeled, as is some politically incorrect attitudes of the time." [a private review]

Harriet Evatt (1891-1983) was an American artist and author of numerous children's books, short stories and poems.

US: Priority (c 2-4 days) ----------- $12.50
Canada: 1st Class (c 2-6 weeks) -- $28.50
World: 1st Class (c 2-8 weeks) --- $42.50