Just as in the old ballads, true love defeats horror when magic strikes a Scottish village. The handsome traveling woodcarver who’s come to her tiny community fascinates Maddie. The village’s belligerent leader, Black Ewan, shanghais the carver’s drunken companion to help with the harvest and Maddie is pleased that he and his friend will be around for a while. But that very night, a ferocious beast attacks the village, and the carver is found bleeding and feverish. The villagers think the carver heroically fought off a monster, but Maddie suspects the more sinister truth: The handsome and likable youth is afflicted with a terrible curse. The only cure, the dismayed girl learns, is almost more dreadful than the disease. The archetypal romance and blend of Christianity with paganism fits well among these lovingly described medieval Scots. The carver, less fawningly described than the heroes of Dunkle’s previous books, is correspondingly a richer and more compelling character, and Maddie’s initiative is endearing. (Fantasy. 12-14)
