In Wintersong the other world lies just beyond an invisible curtain and 18-year-old Elizabeth (or Liesl as she is fondly nicknamed) discovers that an innocent childhood foray into it changes her life forever.
She has grown up hearing her grandmother’s stories of the goblins and creatures that inhabit the nearby woods but discounts them as mere fairy tales by the time she is older.
Her life is arduous and circumscribed in the small 19th century German village where whatever spare time she can eke out from helping at the family inn is spent creating music.
Composing music consumes her life although her talent goes unrecognized by her musician father who is obsessed with teaching her brother to be the next Mozart.
One day Liesl accompanies her sister to the local market and Kathe is spirited away by the Goblin King. Horrified that her jealousy of her beautiful sister has been the cause of this, Liesl dares to venture into the Goblin Underground in an attempt to bring Kathe home.
This Underworld is fraught with danger and hideous creatures but the horror is mitigated for Liesl by her growing realization that she is in love with the Goblin King. Their passionate relationship and her freedom to focus on her music helps her cope with the awful truth that for her there is no escape. The stirring climax to S. Jae-Jones’ Wintersong will captivate the older teen audience. Beautiful writing and an eerie, supernatural atmosphere reminiscent of the movie Labyrinth make this a compelling fantasy romance.
Fran Ashdown was the children’s librarian at the Capilano Branch of the NV District Library. She knows that trolls often live under bridges. For more information check your local libraries.
