Small Paperback, Very Good Condition, 2005, 626 pages, ISBN 0 330 42186 7 6

The Iron Tree – Cecilia Dart-Thornton

Book One of the Crowthistle Chronicles

Jarred is leaving the sun-scorched desert village that has always been his home - and to seek out the truth about his father, who disappeared when Jarred was ten, never to return.

After he and his companions are set upon in a ravine, they seek shelter in the Marsh, a place of cool green water and dazzling beauty. Here Jarred meets Lilith, and in a single moment he knows that his life can never be the same again. But neither realises how closely linked their fates - and their past - really are. During a visit to Cathair Rua, the Red City, Jarred stumbles across the secret of the Iron Tree, and with it an unbearable truth about his father's identity....

"An enchanting chronicle of jealousy and revenge... justice and truth, and of love" - THE AGE