Book review

Huntress of the Sea by Alan Temperley (1999)

This book will really keep you on the edge of your seat as Ewan tells, in his own words, how evil visited his glen, how he battled against it, and how he nearly succumbed to a dreadful enchantment.

At first Ewan can't remember his father because he was lost at sea when Ewan was very young. So he doesn't know who the ragged stranger is who follows him down the road calling his name. But as his new-found father sits drinking tea in the kitchen Ewan looks at the strong yellow fingernails sharpened into claws, and the terrible scars on the sun-brown body, and wonders.

And with the return of Ewan's father come also terrible hauntings back to Ewan's glen. A wild, white flesh-eating stallion, a murderous black dog as large as a calf, and a boy playing on the beach uncannily like Ewan. But events get out of hand in the glen and it is as much as Ewan and his resourceful mother, Jessie, can do to stay alive.

Why is the malice directed against Ewan and Jessie? Do they have the strength to withstand it? Can Ewan's father save them? What price will he pay to save his wife and son?

What can I read next?

This is a brilliant story. It has wildness, evil and excitement. And if you enjoy this book, Alan Temperley has written others too:

Stephen Elboz writes mysterious and dramatic stories. Have a look at these:

I think you might also enjoy this one by Philip Pullman:

Also this by Peter Carey:

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