The Map of Leaves

Set in a world where plants talk, friendship is hard-won and adventure is around the bend of every river … ‘Townsend has crafted an uncannily rich and tactile atmosphere, grounding the reader in the setting so successfully that I could almost feel the river mist settling in my hair.’ SARAH DRIVER ‘Just finished this breathless marvel and there’s so much to love about it. Wild and imaginative storytelling, it introduces us to talking oaks, poisonous rock and a central character with a lot to prove.’ FLEUR HITCHCOCK ‘A striking new voice and a thrilling, beautiful, important book, full of characters I will never forget.’ NATASHA FARRANT Orla has lived on her own since Ma died, with only her beloved garden for company.

When sickness comes and nature is blamed, Orla knows she must find a cure. Armed with her mother’s book of plants and remedies, she steals away on a river boat with two other stowaways, Idris and Ariana. Soon the trio must navigate the rapids of the Inkwater to a poisonous place from which they may never return …

The debut novel from an astonishingly talented new writer A wild rapids-ride of a story, suffused at every turn with authentic details of the natural world A gorgeous gifty book: a flapped paperback with illustration by Marie-Alice Harel