I would have rented this book from a library in the Bethesda/Germantown, MD area in the 1985-1989 timeframe, but I am not sure if it is an 80s book. The details are jumbled, but I want to say it was a children’s fiction book since I would have rented it at age 10-13. I remember someone (a child or adult, not sure?) going in search in a castle for some mystery and eventually finding what looked like the remains, bones, or other evidence of two children behind a tapestry. I think they were 2 brothers, or princes. It seems reminiscent of the “Princes in the Tower” story from the reign of King Richard III in England, but I can’t be sure the 2 stories are related. I am not sure if the word “tapestry” is in the title, but I haven’t been able to locate anything like it anywhere. This has been nagging me for a long time. Thanks for any help you can provide!
I can’t swear this is the right title, but take a look at THE BASSUMTYTE TREASURE by Jane Louise Curry, 1978. I could be wrong b/c I don’t remember skeletons, but it’s about a boy who goes to live w/ his uncle in the old ancestral home in England. There are money problems, and the boy hopes that a riddle/rhyme passed down through the family will help solve a mystery and lead to treaure. There are tapestries involved – it turns out mary Queen of Scots was hidden there and worked on embroidery. There is a plot about a boy from the past being in danger. But it would have been the Elizabethan era, so the time frame would be wrong for the two princes. The cover is easy to find online – maybe it will ring some bells. Sorry in advance if this takes you on a wild goose chase.
Thank you. That wasn’t the book, but it definitely sounds interesting and I wouldn’t mind checking it out also! I just remembered there is a chance I may have rented the book from the Independence, OH area instead of Maryland… What about calling those area libraries directly and asking for their help?
But that sounds exactly like the book I was thinking of and couldn’t remember! Thank you!!! And I think I’ll order the other ghost book as well….castle mysteries abound!
Thanks!
This is “A Dream of Ghosts” by Frank Bonham.
I read that book too. It was exactly as you stated above only it was a girl named Gwen Kellogg with her family that went for the summer to France. She discovered the tapestry and the murder of the two princes by their uncle Richard III. I cannot remember the name of it but have been searching for years for this book. I read it around 1976. I checked it out of the library in sixth grade.
Incredible! Many thanks to you all! I located Dream of Ghosts and will be rereading it soon. I can’t believe how well this site/service works. I never thought I would find the answer to this.
Soooooo… received the book today. I cannot believe it. The book is a library book from the very area where I thought I might have rented it originally. Could I be holding the very copy of the book that I rented so many years ago? Another mystery! Many thanks again, I know it is small but I am elated.