The Caged Graves by Dianne. K. Salerni || Release date: May 2013
17-year-old Verity
Boone expects a warm homecoming when she returns to Catawissa,
Pennsylvania, in 1867, pledged to marry a man she has never met.
Instead, she finds a father she barely knows and a future husband with
whom she apparently has nothing in common. One truly horrifying surprise
awaits her: the graves of her mother and aunt are enclosed in iron
cages outside the local cemetery. Nobody in town will explain why, but
Verity hears rumors of buried treasure and witchcraft. Perhaps the cages
were built to keep grave robbers out . . . or to keep the women in.
Determined to understand, Verity finds herself in a life-and-death
struggle with people she trusted.
Inspired by a pair of real caged graves in present-day Catawissa, this historical YA novel weaves mystery, romance, and action into a suspenseful drama with human greed and passion at its core.
Inspired by a pair of real caged graves in present-day Catawissa, this historical YA novel weaves mystery, romance, and action into a suspenseful drama with human greed and passion at its core.
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Guest Post: Dianne K. Salerni on Inspiration and Research for The Caged Graves.
In November of 2009, I was researching ghost stories
associated with central Pennsylvania,
especially the Pocono Mountains, when I
stumbled across a strange photograph online: a grave with an iron cage around it.
The article that went with the photo was really short on facts, claiming that
local legend said the girl’s parents thought she was a vampire … or a werewolf
… or something like that. (I’m not kidding. That’s about what the article
said.)
The grave was located outside Catawissa, Pennsylvania
– near Rorhbach’s, the author helpfully added. Well, Rorhbach’s turned out to
be Rorhbach’s Farm Market, and my husband used Google Earth to identify a
cemetery plot near their orchard. So, in January 2010, after a family ski trip
in the Poconos, we set off to find “Old
Mt. Zion
Cemetery.”
We weren’t even sure the cemetery would be there, let alone
the grave, so imagine our shock when we pulled the car up beside the abandoned graveyard
and saw two caged graves! One of my
daughters refused to get out of the car. The other daughter came within a few
steps of the nearest grave, changed her mind, and ran back to wait with her
sister. My husband took a bunch of photos, then said, “Uh, it’s kind of chilly
out here. I think I’ll go wait in the car too …”
I was half-inclined to run back to the car myself. The
graves were THAT creepy. They belonged to Asenath Thomas and Sarah Ann Boone.
The women were clearly related in some way, since Sarah was a Thomas by birth
and Asenath was a Thomas by marriage. Both women died in 1852, within a few
days of one another. I was hooked. One
caged grave is weird. Two is a story.
Other than visiting the graves, the rest of my research for
the book was conducted online. I found an article written by a local historian who
believed the cages were erected to keep out grave robbers. In the mid-19th
century, fresh corpses were in demand by medical schools. This was a logical
(although still creepy) explanation for the cages -- but why build something permanent
when the danger of grave robbing would pass very quickly? Why were only these two graves protected?
What made these women potential targets? Who they were? Or what they died from?
Along with the mystery of the graves, I wanted my story to
explore the unique flavor of this mountainous, central Pennsylvania setting. Again searching online, I discovered that a
little known battle of the Revolutionary War had taken place nearby – about 75
years prior to the burial of those women. When the Americans lost, captured
Continental soldiers were brutally massacred by British and Indian forces. The
countryside was razed by the victors, driving settlers to flee into a vast
marsh. Most of them died of exposure in what would eventually become known as the
Shades of Death swamp, but a few stragglers made it out and took refuge in
Catawissa -- the town with the mysterious cemetery.
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Love this! I definitely need to read this book. As it turns out, Catawissa is about 5 miles away from where I went to college. For some reason, the Pocono Mts (although very beautiful!) have such weird thing going on....I remember visiting Centralia, the home to an abandoned mining town which has had an underground coal fire raging for four decades. It's so creepy and not far from Catawissa. I can't believe I never visited Catawissa! I am so intrigued now and can't wait to read The Caged Graves. Unfortunately, Catawissa is almost three hours from me now, but if I head back up to the Poconos, I definitely plan on visiting! Thanks for sharing this with us, Leanna!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great area, Christina. I wanted to visit the Poconos after reading Second Chance Summer - and I'd really love to see those caged graves some day!
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