This time, the story is told from Beth Ellen's point of view. Timid and laconic, Beth Ellen lives with her wealthy grandmother and her servants. Although Harriet is brash, rude, and pushy, Beth Ellen is lonely and tolerates her company.
Together the two of them ride around the town of Water Mill, New York, spying on the employees of the Shark's Tooth Inn, including Bunny, the piano player that Beth Ellen has a crush on, and getting the dirt on the Jenkins family, a southern family who plan to become rich after concocting an unusual recipe for toe medicine.
But Harriet is determined to solve the biggest mystery of the summer – who's leaving the notes, which are mostly Bible quotations scribbled in red crayon, around town, in the strangest places?
Beth Ellen's Mother
One day Beth Ellen receives an unpleasant bit of news from her grandmother – her flighty, glamorous mother, Zeeney, and her outrageously wealthy boyfriend Wallace are coming to Water Mill for a visit. Beth Ellen has not seen her mother in years and feels numbed by the news. Naturally Harriet is excited to meet them but Beth Ellen resents her mother for interfering with her peaceful summer.
As in Harriet The Spy, Fitzhugh critiques the rich as being arrogant, indolent and removed from the rest of the world, safe in their protective bubble. Both Zeeney and Wallace are categorized as selfish and silly, while Beth Ellen wants to extract herself from the "rich" mentality and just be a normal twelve-year-old girl.
Adolescent Themes
Fitzhugh takes on a slightly more sophisticated tone in The Long Secret than in Harriet The Spy - Harriet and her friends discuss things such as menstruation, possible career paths, and religion and philosophy. A particularily humorous discussion about menstruation ensues when Janie, Harriet's scientific-minded friend who comes to visit for a weekend, lectures the girls on the mechanics of monthly periods.
Individual differences and friendship are also important themes in the book - for example, Jessie Mae Jenkins may be a borderline religious fanatic, but she is also kind-hearted and a good listener. Much to Harriet's chagrin, Beth Ellen begins to confide in her. Fitzhugh appears to have a fondness for eccentrics, as she holds the Preacher up as being the wisest adult in the novel compared to the others, who are mainly consumed by wealth and materialism.
Life Changes
Gradually throughout the novel, Beth Ellen learns to become more assertive and express her anger at times. She begins standing up to Harriet, who never thinks twice about invading space, and to her mother, who treats her like little more than a walking doll. After reaching a destructive breaking point, Beth Ellen refuses to have anything more to do with her mother. Her mother and Wallace leave, and Beth Ellen feels free again.
The conclusion leaves Harriet smacking her forehead and Beth Ellen laughing hysterically Luckily for readers, the fun with Harriet and her pals is not over yet – Fitzhugh went on to write Sport and Harriet Spies Again.
Fitzhugh, Louise. The Long Secret. Dell Yearling 1965, ISBN 0-440-41819-4
Catherine Jozwik - Catherine Jozwik is a twenty-eight-year-old freelance writer that works full time at a used bookstore. Catherine was born and raised in ...
