The concept that reality works on many levels and that our everyday experiences are threaded with spiritual and historical charges is lyrically explored in this ambitious and intriguing novel. Ghosts and spirits of the past and present people this story of Abren, the abandoned girl whose fate has a cataclysmic effect on the market town of Pangwerne. This archetypal shire community becomes unsettled as a darker, deeper underworld is revealed below its streets.

Abren’s arrival in Pangwerne unearths a set of intriguing, disturbing, warm and witty characters who are shapers of the past and present. The clever story is richly imaginative, drawing on classical tales of metamorphosis. At times the plot becomes over-complex and the constant high-alertness of the drama can be wearing, but fluent readers aged 11 to 14 will enjoy it.