Showing results by narrator "Luke Griffin" in All Categories

Tan Twan Eng's debut novel casts a powerful spell and has garnered comparisons to celebrated wartime storytellers Somerset Maugham and Graham Greene. Set during the tumult of World War II, on the lush Malayan island of Penang, The Gift of Rain tells a riveting and poignant tale about a young man caught in the tangle of wartime loyalties and deceits. In 1939, 16-year-old Philip Hutton - the half-Chinese, half-English youngest child of the head of one of Penang's great trading families - feels alienated from both the Chinese and British communities.

The battle was won; the storm has subsided. But the enemy has escaped, the few remaining Danann leaving Fal with a threat that leaves Ayla, Sean, Finny and Benvy in no doubt - their home of Kilnabracka is in serious danger. All is not well in the town. It looks untouched; life goes on, with no sign of the dangerous Danann. But a storm is brewing, and the friends are being drawn into a trap, down a spiral path. Only they can save themselves and the townsfolk.

Ayla and her friends travel further from home and deeper into the strange and ancient world of Fal. The chase leads them through a land of ever-deepening magic, populated with characters bizarre and beautiful, wondrous and dangerous. It leads them to the Old Ones, where Ayla’s newfound powers are greeted with fear and trepidation. They will meet allies and enemies, old and new, with the lines blurred between friend and foe. Battles spiral into war, and not everyone will fall on the same side.

The first instalment of the weird and wonderful Ayla Trilogy. Growing up in a New York orphanage, Ayla has no idea who her family is. It is not until she comes to Ireland that she finds out just how deep her roots really are. Then her past rises up to haunt her and seeks to destroy her as Ayla is abducted and buried alive in the bowels of the earth. Above ground, her three best friends set out to find and save her from a fate that has been lying in wait for centuries. Guided by Ayla’s uncles, they must make a treacherous journey that takes them down among the very roots of time.