How it happened in Peach Hill

How it Happened In Peach Hill by Marthe Jocelyn

This is what I've been reading the last couple of days. I have to say that I don't often read historical fiction, but sometimes I pick one up and have a good time reading it. That's the case with this one.

Here's the summary from School Library Journal -

During the 1920's - fifteen-year-old Annie travels from town to town in upstate New York with her mother, a self-proclaimed spiritual advisor. Annie is her mother's secret weapon: by posing as an idiot, she can eavesdropp on conversations around town and gather fodder for "Madame Caterina's" fortune telling sessions. The downside, of course, is that Annie is never able to let anyone learn just how intelligent and lonely she really is. When they move to Peach Hill, the teen longs to settle down, and it seems she might get her wish when, in a rebellious moment, she feigns a miraculous cure that allows her to drop her mentally disabled pose. Finally, she is able to attend school and get to know some of the townspeople on her own terms. But the mother is as tenacious as the daughter, and has no intention of losing Annie's services. Add to the mix a local schemer who is determined to use the duo's skills to his own advantage and a persistant truant officer who has her doubts about Madame Caterina, and the result is a rollicking coming-of-age story that ends with dreams realized in unexpected ways. Jocelyn's research is evident, and the old wives tales that she has chosen as titles for each chapter hint at how the plot will unfold. Readers will not soon forget this unconventional mother-daughter team.