I read this a number of years ago and didn't enjoy it. I deceided to give it another go earlier this year and found I liked it a lot more. The style is unusual and moves backwards and forwards through time, but it is an intriguing read.

From the Back Cover
Once it had been the great forest of Lythe - a vast and impenetrable thicket of green with a mystery in the very heart of the trees. And here, in the beginning, lived the Fairfaxes, grandly, at Fairfax Manor, visited once by the great Gloriana herself.

But over the centuries the forest has been destroyed, replaced by Streets of Trees. The Fairfaxes have dwindled too; now they live in 'Arden' at the end of Hawthorne Close and are hardly a family at all.

But Isobel Fairfax, who drops into pockets of time and out again, knows about the past. She is sixteen and waiting for the return of her mother - the thin, dangerous Eliza with her scent of nicotine, ArpSge and sex, whose disappearance is part of the mystery that still remains at the heart of the forest.

I am reserving this for the upcoming charity event.

This book kindly donated by akg for a special project.

RELEASE NOTES:

Left on top of the post box by the bus stop on Avon way. The book is in a release bag and contains a bookcrossing bookmark and a press release about the Book Aid mass book release.

Visit Bookaid International to find out how you can open up the world through books.

Captured after only three hours! looking forward to reading. I now plan to release a few that I feel will have impact, into the wild.

This was not the type of book I would have picked for myself, nor have read before. I was hooked after the first page by the descriptive and powerful writing.. 'a finger nail clipping of a moon'. I found leaving lengths of time between readings (particularly towards the end of this book) made it hard to orientate oneself, as the book slips through many time frames and back again. Very enjoyable and recommended.

Really enjoyed this part fairy tale - part mystery, although it was confusing at times. Good cast of believable characters even if they were not all likeable. Loved the literary allusions woven in, mainly Shakespearean