Margaret Ferry

Margaret Ferry is a feisty, compassionate girl in 1953 Brooklyn. Raised by her Aunt Etta and Uncle Mike with whom she has a close, loving relationship, Margaret knows little about the father who was killed in WWII and the mother who went into labor following the news and died during childbirth--a story rarely told because of the sadness and anxiety Etta says it causes.Margaret attends Catholic school where she has a mission to prevent the churchs pastor from sending the Russian immigrant students to other schools to make room for a more affluent student population. Risking suspension, Margaret creates turmoil by taking her case directly to the bishop while, at the same time, Etta receives a heartbreaking medical report and Mikes job as a news reporter is jeopardized by an unscrupulous colleague who steals his work.Etta has an ongoing personal struggle with her sister Lolly, a slightly disabled, sympathetic and often hapless character who is extremely close to Margaret. Find the good, Lolly always says, but things somehow go wrong whenever Lolly is around, and Etta doesnt hide her discomfort when Lolly spends time with Margaret.Prior to attending Margarets Confirmation, a mysterious woman gives Lolly a beautiful antique lace shawl, exactly the kind of gift Lolly had hoped to find for the girl. Following the familys Confirmation dinner, Margaret goes out for a brief visit with her best friend and along the way encounters the local bad boy, who chats disagreeably with her and at times seems almost menacing. Moments after the boy hurries off, Margaret is horrified to see that her beautiful shawl is gone.Desperate, Margaret runs after the boy and in the aftermath of a devastating catastrophe, the shawl mysteriously finds its way back to her. Through a series of mystifying and inexplicable events, Margarets behavior reveals a miraculous gift--she often knows things that are impossible for her to know, many before they even happen. But all of them are in keeping with the advice that Lolly has always given her, Find the good.One by one, Margaret has startling encounters with the local bad boy, the beleaguered Jewish couple who own the neighborhood candy store, and her uncles unscrupulous colleague. She also has a chance meeting with the pastor, who then makes a choice that stuns the community. Margaret even manages to deal with the destructive tongue of the local gossip.Ultimately, Etta is graced with a precious gift and Margaret learns the amazing secret that her aunt and uncle have so anxiously kept from her through the years.