Pinfold is a remarkable illustrator and storyteller: here he conjures a palace in the desert where a girl strikes a mystical bargain with ‘the Teller’ to save her friends. Sharing elements with the myth of Persephone’s visit to Hades and the Children of Lir, this is a haunting and unusual picture book, full of intelligence, silence, bravery, ambiguity, perseverance. Ages 6-8.