Marjan is used to being alone in the home she shares with her father. He’s been leaving her on her own since she was 10 years old. Before that, he left her with friends. Now she is 15 he has left her for good.

He never told her where he was going or why, but his recent murder in their home has left her reeling with anger, confusion and bitterness. Now properly alone, she has been left with her father’s veterinary practice to run, school to attend, and a minefield of unanswered questions.

When a stranger arrives at the practice one day, telling her she must travel to England immediately, Marjan is even more confused. This woman then tries to explain how special her father and her in turn are. He was not only a vet to human pets, but to creatures of story, imagination, and dreams.

It’s not until Marjan sees one for herself that she begins to understand her father’s hidden life travelling the world to look after these creatures. But he’s not the only one who knows about them. There are secret societies that have coveted them, far back into the distant past. These societies have different views on these magical, beautiful and often terrible beings, and Marjan is drawn into this hidden world.

Are the creatures connected to the human psyche – our imagination itself? Are they to be kept safe or set free? Can Marjan finally be part of her father’s world and in the process of knowing, find his murderer?

Marjan struggles to pull all she learns together, including more strangers appearing in her life, the bedtime stories her father shared from his Iranian culture, and experiencing the creatures themselves.

Wow, what an amazing concept! Magical creatures have always been part of children’s lives whether in stories, movies, imagination or dreams.

This novel brings all manner of those beings front and centre into a teenager’s present, answering questions she has had her entire life. Empathy comes early for the main character as her parents have been absent in different ways, and now she is an orphan. Not only is there the wonder of a plethora of strange beings and their care in this novel, there are new friendships, witchcraft, a murder mystery and huge personal growth of the main character.

Told in first person, the reader gets to know main character Marjan well as she goes through a transformation from a 15-year-old girl who is reeling with anger and confusion and ‘something missing’, to one who surfs a huge learning curve of the unimaginable, powerful, wealthy, ancient and magic.

Once There Was is something truly special.

Author – Kiyashi Monsef
Age – 10+

(2023, Simon & Schuster, Magical, Creatures, Monsters, Murder, Veterinary Practice, Loss, Grief, Secrets, Wonder, Imagination, Power, Control, Menagerie, Deals, Secret Societies, Action, Compassion, Animals, Witchcraft)