The Haunting of SafeKeep by Eve Bunting
"The Haunting of SafeKeep" by Eve Bunting is a compelling narrative centered on Sara Stratton, who embarks on a summer job at SafeKeep, a unique park that preserves historic Victorian homes and buildings. Alongside her romantic interest, Devlin Nielsen, Sara grapples with her past as a foundling, constantly hoping her biological mother will return to find her. As they settle into their new roles, Sara experiences haunting echoes of a baby crying and glimpses of a shadowy figure connected to the history of one of the buildings. This leads her to uncover a tragic story involving a mother and her lost child, intensifying her internal struggles and feelings of abandonment.
The story intersects themes of identity, belonging, and the complex emotions surrounding adoption. Sara's journey reveals the difficulties many adoptees face, particularly in reconciling their fantasies about their birth parents with the reality of their lives. Ultimately, Sara's decision to care for an abandoned baby named Summer serves as a poignant metaphor for acceptance and the importance of letting go of the past. Bunting's exploration of these emotional landscapes resonates with anyone seeking understanding of their roots and personal connections.
On this Page
Subject Terms
The Haunting of SafeKeep by Eve Bunting
First published: 1985
Type of work: Thriller
Themes: Emotions, love and romance, and family
Time of work: The 1980’s
Recommended Ages: 15-18
Locale: San Diego, California
Principal Characters:
Sara Stratton , a college student who has just finished her freshman year and needs a summer jobDevlin Nielsen , a nineteen-year-old who wants to find a way to stay in San Diego for the summerMrs. Hargreave , the woman in charge of SafeKeep, a park where old buildings are restoredFiona , a housekeeper at Bella Vista Children’s HomeSummer , a baby girl brought through SafeKeep on a tour by her mother
The Story
The narrator of The Haunting of SafeKeep, Sara Stratton, meets handsome Devlin Nielsen for the first time as they scan a bulletin board at San Diego State University, both in search of summer jobs. They decide to apply together as caretaker couple for SafeKeep, a local park to which old Victorian homes and historic buildings are moved to save them from being razed, then are restored and opened for weekend tourists. Before moving into their new two-bedroom apartment on the top floor of one of the mansions, Sara makes a visit to Buena Vista Children’s Home. She was left there as a foundling and lived there for eight years until she was adopted. She visits often because she has never given up hope that her natural mother will return there to look for her. Her old friend Fiona, the housekeeper, reads tea leaves and predicts a romance with her new roommate; she also says that some astounding self-discovery will take place at her new job.
During their first evening together, Devlin reveals to Sara that he, too, has some unresolved tensions in his past, which keep him from returning to his Boston home. In the days ahead, however, they are both distracted from their personal problems and their growing feelings of attraction to each other by Sara’s feelings of anxiety. She hears the echoing sound of a baby crying outside their windows at night and insists to Devlin that she keeps spotting a shadowy figure near an old church that has recently been moved to the property. The two research the building and learn that it once housed victims rescued from a flood, including an infant who cried alone in a corner and then died before being found by her mother. Another yellowed newspaper clipping tells of the mother’s suicide a short time later.
A young woman with a baby goes through on a Sunday tour of SafeKeep and strikes up a friendship with Sara. Late that night, when Devlin also hears the sounds of a crying baby, the couple discover that this time they are real: The girl has left Summer, her baby, behind. Sara’s first impulse is simply to keep the child and wait for the mother’s return, but she listens when Devlin says that the girl is an unfit mother and probably will not come back.
After bedding the baby down and following a long night of discussion, she decides she must report Summer’s abandonment. First, however, she devises a bold scheme to rid SafeKeep of its disquieting ghosts. She takes Summer into the old church, places her at the spot in which the phantom-baby is crying and lets the ghostly mother say good-bye. Sara whispers her own reply: “Good-bye, Mother.” At last SafeKeep is quiet, Summer is about to be taken to Buena Vista to be cared for, and Sara and Devlin are free to reach out to their own parents, and to each other, for the love which they now feel free to express.
Context
Author Eve Bunting, born in Ireland, is a master at creating stories taut with suspense. She wrote four exciting “page-turners” before The Haunting of SafeKeep.
The search by adoptees for their natural parents has become a controversial issue in recent years and parallels the search for identity and self-understanding upon which all adolescents embark. In this story, Sara has been haunted her whole life by the belief that her real mother will return, and that dream has prevented her from making a commitment to the foster families who took her in and, ultimately, to her adoptive parents.
As Sara prepares to turn Summer over to authorities, she is speaking to all adopted children when she says she hopes that Summer will accept her adoptive status better than she herself did, that the child will forget that she once was unwanted and will be happy and accept the loving people who want to help her.
The popular press has often reported touching stories of reunions between parents and the children they relinquished for adoption many years ago. This book addresses the more complex issue of the many adoptees who will never have that opportunity and must learn to accept and live with that disturbing loose end in their personal history.