The fifth book in the epic and compulsively readable Sevenwaters series

"masterful and gripping" The Courier Mail

Sibeal has always known that she is destined for a spiritual life, and is committed to it with all her heart. The only thing left for her to do before she enters the nemetons is to spend the summer visiting her sisters, Muirrin and Clodagh, on the northern island of Inis Eala.

But Sibeal has barely set foot on the island before a freak storm out at sea sinks a ship before her eyes. In spite of frantic efforts, only three survivors are fished alive from the water, and one of them, a man Sibeal names Ardal, clings to life by the merest thread.

Sibeal befriends Ardal as he begins to regain his health. But it becomes clear there is something unusual about the three shipwrecked strangers. Why won't the beautiful Svala speak? And what is it that the gravely ill Ardal can't remember - or won't tell?

When a visiting warrior is found dead at the bottom of a cliff, and an attempt is made on Ardal's life, Sibeal finds herself a pawn in a deadly game. The truth will be far more astonishing than she could ever have believed - and the consequences for Sibeal unimaginable.

"There are some series so lyrical, so well-conceived, that every new book is a delight, and this describes Marillier's Sevenwaters." The Weekend West

Winner of the Tin Duck Award for Best Long Written Work

Fans of Marion Zimmer Bradley, Isobelle Carmody and Robin Hobb will love Juliet Marillier.