We have updated our Privacy Policy Please take a moment to review it. By continuing to use this site, you agree to the terms of our updated Privacy Policy.
In the cottages around The Green sleeps a memory of long-dead hands that once wielded a terrible power. Now it is only slumbering, waiting for somewhere to feed and grow, someone to embrace its awesome power and turn it to new purposes. On the eve of Bonfire Night it is nudged to wakefulness: a stranger all the way from Canada on a quest for family history; friends Jan and Kate’s sortie into a long-closed attic to find debris for the bonfire on The Green. This is a community holding an uneasy truce between tourist interest in legends of witchcraft and the terrible reality of a fire that burned scores of cottages and their inhabitants years before. Bonfire Night looms; objectors say there hasn’t been a bonfire on The Green since The Fire and there shouldn’t ever be again. The waking power feeds on the anxieties, puts out tendrils in search of a mind to sieze – and finds Jan. Into her hands will flow the deadly malevolence that once made The Burning. Into her mind will flow the hatred that once consumed everything ….
Newsletter Signup
By clicking ‘Sign Up,’ I acknowledge that I have read and agree to Hachette Book Group’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
Reviews
Beautifully handled.
Exceptional.
The writing is tense and the complex plotting assured...an exciting, imaginative tale.
LORD OF THE DANCE: 'An intriguing and well written psychological novel.'
THE BURNING: 'The writing is tense and the complex plotting assured, which adds up to an exciting, imaginative tale . . . '
THE SPRING ON THE MOUNTAIN: 'Elemental is exactly the word to describe its strange plot. ... Spellbinding.'
a good story that holds the reader to the end
another imaginative tale by this award-winning children's author
The writing style is exceptional ... Highly recommended, school libraries should add THE BURNING to their collection and explore other titles by this gifted author.
THE SPRING ON THE MOUNTAIN: 'Unusual ... with moments of real beauty.'
THE BURNING: 'The insidiousness of evil is beautifully handled in Allen's exploration of jealousy and revenge.'
LORD OF THE DANCE: 'This is a fascinating book which will not remain long on the shelves but should certainly be available for young teenage readers.'