The Last Day the Dogbushes Bloomed by Lee Smith

Susan Tobey is nine and both happy and confused about her life in rural Australia.  Daddy spends most days working in the basement, her mother is the beautiful Queen, her sister is the charming but arrogant Princess and it is unclear the roll of the Baron who seems to make the Queen smile. The sense of disquiet is heightened by the entrance of Eugene, a young boy visiting a neighbor.  The summer fun starts innocently enough until gradually Eugene demands absolute obedience to the games he events.  Can Susan create a fantasy strong enough to cover a disturbing reality or must she just accept a passing from the age of innocence?  A coming of age story with a little Lord of the Flies and a little To Kill a Mockingbird but a little less powerful than either one.