The Wintrish Girl
by Melanie La'Brooy
A wildly fun debut about not quite belonging, forging your own path and finding your true home.On Talisman Day in the Province of Arylia, all children receive powerful objects that change their lives forever. All children except for the Wintrish servant girl Penn, that is.Bound to the spoiled Princess Seraphine since birth, Penn has never known her true family. While she longs to return to her own Province of Midwinter and find them, she knows that all her future holds is a lifetime of loneliness.But a long-forgotten evil is stirring, and destinies are about to change ...When the Princess is kidnapped, Penn is forced to run for her life to clear her own name. With the help of some unexpected friends and a dragon with a fear of unicorns, she faces deadly peril and formidable foes. But can one ordinary Wintrish girl save the day?Because without a Talisman, there's no changing your fate - is there?
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Author Biography
Melanie La'Brooy is an Australian author who has previously written five novels for adults, which were published in Australia by Penguin Books and internationally. For several years, Melanie regularly contributed political columns to the Melbourne newspaper, The Age, and did book reviews on ABC radio in Melbourne. Over the past twelve years she has lived in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East with her family. Melanie wrote this story for her three children who, like Penn, aren't quite sure where they fit into the world sometimes either.
Review
Melanie La'Brooy's *The Wintrish Girl* is an exciting middle-grade fantasy debut. Penn is an outsider in the strict world of Aralyia, a slave to the princess Seraphine, who is orphaned and will inherit the kingdom. They are knot-sisters, bound together, even though they don't like one another. In this fantasy world, Marvellance magic is used for good; Malevolence is used for evil. On Talisman Day, 11-year-old children are given an object imbued with Marvellance that gives them special powers and determines their future profession. However, during the ceremony Princess Seraphine is kidnapped by an evil Night Hag. Penn, believing she will be blamed, escapes with a new friend, Jupiter, on a dragon. They befriend funny and loyal Arthur, from a different kingdom, and together the three travel to a magical library to rescue the princess from an icy tower, only to be imprisoned themselves. La'Brooy has created a sophisticated world that uses tropes of the fantasy genre, while creating a fresh, captivating adventure. Penn's escape and return to the kingdom, alongside the friendships she forms, and some wondrous magical creatures, make for a page-turning story that fans of *Nevermoor* will particularly enjoy. There is much still to discover in future books, such as the mystery of Penn's origins, how Arthur appeared, and more, but this first instalment of the 'Talismans of Fate' series will captivate readers aged 10 and up. *Angela Crocombe is a senior children's buyer at Readings Kids. Read her interview with Melanie La'Brooy here. *
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A wildly fun debut about not quite belonging, forging your own path and finding your true home.
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