The Old Willis Place – a Ghost Story

A Chilling Account of a Haunted Mansion and the Power of Forgiveness by Mary Downing Hahn

Jun 25, 2009

Diana and Georgie have lived in the woods behind the old Willis place since the bad thing happened. What is the secret? Is the place haunted? Why are there so many rules?

In The Old Willis Place (Clarion Books, 2004, ISBN 978-0-618-43018-5) by Mary Downing Hahn, Diana and her little brother Georgie live in a shack on the 300 acre property once owned by the Willis family. The owner of the house, Miss Lilian, has died and since then there have been a stream of caretakers, none of whom stay very long because Oak Hill Manor is said to be haunted.

When the newest caretaker, Mr. Morrison, and his daughter Lissa, arrive, Diana is tempted to break the unwritten rules she and Georgie always follow in hopes of making a new friend, one of the things she misses most since the bad thing happened.

Cautiously, Diana reaches out to Lissa. Georgie gets extremely angry at Diana for breaking the rules, even though Lissa promises to keep their secrets.

The girls often meet at the old Willis place. One day Lissa borrows her father's key and she and Diana go exploring inside wondering if they will meet up with Miss Lilian's ghost.

Unwritten Rules

Diana and Georgie are very strict in following "the rules". No one has ever told them these rules or written them down, they just know them and follow them. They are:

Slowly, Diana ends up breaking all of the rules. Lissa, trying to help keep Diana's secrets shrugs off the rules, but quickly learns that breaking the rules has serious consequences for Diana and Georgie.

Lissa's Diary

The story is written from Diana's point of view. The reader also gets a glimpse into Lissa's thinking through her diary. The diary plays an integral part in the blossoming friendship between Diana and Lissa, after Diana steals the diary one night while Lissa is sleeping, reads it, and records her own entry. The diary often replays story events from Lissa's point of view, giving more intimate details of what happened. It provides background about Lissa and allows readers to see how she is putting the pieces together to figure out Diana's secret. It is with Lissa's help that Diana, Georgie and Miss Lilian are released from the confines of the secret.

The Power of Forgiveness

Once Lissa releases Miss Lilian, the ghost of the cranky old lady, from the parlor where she died, the clues begin to make sense to her. As the rest of the story unfolds, the reader finds that Lissa has been faithful and loyal in her friendship with Diana. Late one night she sees and overhears a scene between Georgie, Diana and Miss Lilian that leaves her amazed and filled with hope. It is the power of forgiveness that finally releases the three from the secret that binds them to Oak Hill Manor.

Mary Downing Hahn has written a mystery with a moral lesson that will keep teens turning the pages until the secret is revealed.

The copyright of the article The Old Willis Place – a Ghost Story in Teen Fiction is owned by Krista Sadlers. Permission to republish The Old Willis Place – a Ghost Story in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.