by Cathryn_Conroy: This is a chilling mystery with no resolution and no satisfactory ending to explain it all. Even so, this novel by Joan Lindsay is very (VERY!) good—a compelling read even if it is a bit frustrating. Still, there are ways to find out what happened. (See below.)
It’s the height of summer on February 14, 1900 in the very small town of Woodend in Victoria, Australia. The privileged and pampered girls who board at Mrs. Appleyard’s College for Young Ladies awake to a glorious sunny day. They exchange handmade Valentines, and then 19 girls in the care of Mademoiselle de Poitiers, the very young and beautiful dancing and French conversation teacher, and Miss Greta McCraw, the tetchy older mathematics teacher, are driven in a covered drag by five bay horses more than three hours away from the school to the magnificent Hanging Rock, a stunning geologic formation by a small pond that is ideal for picnicking.
They arrive dressed in all their finery, including corsets and hats—so none is very comfortable. It’s a lazy day of eating chicken pie, reading books, and taking naps. Meanwhile, something quite odd has happened. Everyone who was wearing a watch has noticed that it unexplainably stopped when they reached the picnic grounds.
Three seniors—Miranda, Marion, and Irma, along with a younger and most annoying student named Edith—decide to explore the area, assuring the chaperones they will return very soon. In an attempt to reach the magnificent Hanging Rock, they traverse through some hilly terrain, crossing a stream on foot under the watchful eye of two strangers: a 20-year-old boy named Michael Fitzhubert and an older coachman named Albert Crundall. Then the four girls hike up a big hill to reach the rock, a difficult journey in their constrictive clothing.
Soon it’s time for the large party of students and chaperones to return to the school, a long journey they must make before it’s dark. But there is no sign of the four girls…until suddenly Edith comes loudly screaming back to the picnic area, completely hysterical and nonsensical. The three seniors are missing, as well as Miss McCraw, says Edith, who weirdly wandered up the forested hill without her dress on.
What happened to them? That is the crux of the mystery and the ensuing story is an intriguing page-turner that delves into the very real psychological impact of being close to the missing girls who are never found—from survivors’ guilt to crushed expectations to possible financial ruin. And that, actually, is the point of the novel more than solving the mystery.
The 50th anniversary edition I read has a foreword by Maile Meloy that is filled with spoilers. It should have been an afterword—not appearing before the story. The biggest and most unforgiveable spoiler is the revelation of what happened to the missing girls and teacher. Meloy explained the ending because the publisher, in an attempt to keep readers guessing, convinced author Joan Lindsay to remove the last chapter, which details what happens.
My firm advice is this: Do not read the foreword until you have read the novel!
In addition, that final chapter was published at Lindsay’s request after she died. Titled, “The Secret of Hanging Rock,” it’s a very short standalone book that also includes critical commentaries and theories about the novel. It’s excellent.
