Hermione Lee

Helen Edmunds, Representative Elder of the Court of the High Advisors, has devoted the last fourteen years of her life to King Patrick and Queen Marianne of the Otherworld while confining herself to the royal palace and enduring the hostility and hatred of her fellow Elders. Yet when she is assigned to mentor Evonne Fitzgerald, a young, youthful Elder-in-training, her life brightens up in every aspect. The two of them grow inseparable, soon becoming each other’s twin flame as they form a bond of sisterhood. However, a tragedy befalls Evonne one day, leaving Helen to deal with the aftermath. Her guilt and defiance eventually lead to her spiraling into a descent of madness. When everyone and everything threatens to destroy Helen, she must learn to find hope and reprieve as life pits her against the dark side of humanity.