Set in 1915, 70 years before The Various (2004), this second of a trilogy continues the story of an ancient tribe of little people hidden from the human world. When 13-year-old Celandine encounters Fin, one of the little people living on a wooded hill on her father’s farm in Somerset, she is initially incredulous, but also enchanted. Lonely and unhappy, Celandine moves easily between the real and the imaginary, accepting the little people as the friends she lacks. Sent away to boarding school, Celandine is bullied and then heartbroken when her brother dies in the war. Overwhelmed, she flees, hiding in the woods with the little people, who provide needed refuge and comfort. When the Ickri, a hostile tribe of little people, storm the woods, Celandine’s presence is a danger to all. She must return to her own world and learn to survive. Intertwining elements from the English fairy-fantasy and boarding-school genres, Augarde creates a familiar yet entirely original world, a very sympathetic heroine and an absolutely riveting adventure that isn’t over yet. Stay tuned. (Fiction. 10-14)
