Fen and Rey have always lived in the Lighthouse with their carer Lissa and other children in her care. Despite a worry that sometimes the soup may be made from mice, the ruckus of bathtime and chores like mopping floors, they are mostly happy. They are warm and cared for, fed and feeling part of their hotchpotch family.

Fen is fiery, fighting off hugs and fiercely independent, and Rey is quiet, gentle and fascinated in growing things. They are twins, barely apart and both often wondering how they ended up there. Lissa told them she found them curled up with foxes in the snow, and at night they whisper possible stories to each other. Imagine….

Did their mother leave them there, alone in the wilderness for wild foxes to care for? Was there more to their story? Other children have a token or letter to connect them to their past, but Fen and Rey have nothing but Lissa’s story and their imaginations.

The more they ponder their past the more Fen feels the wilderness is calling to her. Will they find answers out there? Is their mother waiting for them?

When their handyman is brought in to keep a visiting fox out, they ask him about a local woman they’ve heard about who used to feed the foxes…

Talking to Marl is like slowly unwrapping a present, except the wrapping paper is a grumpy old man holding a hammer. Who was she where is she where can we find her can you tell us about her? and it’s all flooding out of me in a tumble and I’m surprised how easily I find the questions that I’ve never wanted to ask.

 

Could this fox lover woman be their mother? When the fox shows itself again, the sisters decide it’s a sign. They wait until the time is right and they set off to find answers from their past.

Wow. This is a book to be savoured a second time for its simply stunning writing. Like beautiful prose, page after page has sentences that sing in a story that will bring a tear or two.

Twins Rey and Fen feel lost even living in a place full of love and care. They have no anchor without knowledge of their mother or past. Finally seeking answers brings them joy and fear, courage and eventually what they seek.

Nature is woven throughout the story in its beauty and fierceness as Fen tells their story in first person. Both her and Fey go through realisations about themselves and transform across the narrative.

Carnegie Medal Winning Author Katya Balen has done it again.

Gripping. Beautiful. Gentle. Fierce. Wow!

Author – Katya Balen

Age – 10+

Read more reviews of Katya Balen novels here

(2023, Bloomsbury, Blended Family, Mystery, Love, Growing up, Animals, Adventure, Foxes, Mother, Stories, Children’s Home, Lighthouse, Rewilding, Wilderness, Beautiful writing, Sisters, Siblings, Twins, Longing, Loss, Wonder, Imagination, Running Away, Nature, Birdlife, Stunning)