Castle Barebane Author:Joan Aiken "Castle Barebane" was another experiment by Joan Aiken. It was her first adult novel to be set in the 19th Century, where an intrepid female reporter runs away to Europe to find her missing half-brother and his naive wife. She finds that the children were abandoned, and that she must care for them until her wayward brother is found. Part of it i... more »s a relief from the pressures of an engagement to a scion of a high society family, but it also burdens her. The trio find their way up to an ancient, decaying castle in Scotland, where secrets are unraveled, lies are exposed, and lives are lost, both innocent and wicked.« less