TOWNLEY, Roderick

When Cisley's beautiful magician's-assistant mother, Marina, vanishes during Uncle Asa's magic show, Cisley and Uncle Asa return alone to their illusion-filled glass-castle home, where Cisley—with the help of a servant boy, Cole—searches Marina's private rooms for clues to her disappearance. But Uncle Asa disapproves of Cisley's friendships with Cole and a Roma girl, Anna, and forbids Cisley to leave the castle, forcing her instead to use her newfound magical abilities to help him create a black rose—the one thing rumored to have the power to bring Marina back. Cisley's relationships—with her uncle; with Miss Porlock, the "poor relation" who chaperones her; with Cole and Anna; and with the local painter she believes may be her father—initially appear to be random affiliations, but as Cisley works to strengthen each connection, she distinguishes herself from her self-absorbed mother and unpicks the snarled tangle of evidence that leads her—finally