{"title":"The Storytellers Trilogy","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"swan-bone-flute-book-rachel-o-leary-9781916073807","title":"The Swan-Bone Flute","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIn Dark Ages Britain, strong women struggle to protect the forest and their freedoms. Storytelling inspires them to stand up to the greed that's groping its way in ...\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eUrsel jumps down from an oak to scare a mother deer away from the hunters. Her uncle beats her with his spear-butt. How dare she defy him? He needs venison to impress his lord the Thane at the feast. She is defending life in the wildwood. Is he entitled to hit her, a free woman?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHilda the travelling storyteller walks into this fen-edge settlement. 'Do I carry trouble in my pack? You have plenty of your own  I bring tales to lift you ...'\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eElder Edith wants the settlement to resolve the conflict with talk, in the old way. To show how the new system keeps women in their place, the Thane leers and threatens rape.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe women must work together - but culture divides them. Privileged Anglo-Saxon colonisers mistrust their Celtic British slaves. Meg longs to become a storyteller, but how can she, a slave, dare? Ploughing and planting give them blisters and backache. They bicker.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs the women gut fish or weave cloth by the peat fire, Hilda tells stories to spark their imaginations. Once there was a place where queens ruled in peace. Invaders galloped into that valley and smashed their way of life ... but one wise woman escaped to keep the old ways alive. Can the young queen find her in the mountains? What visions await her in the Cave of Dreams?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eInspired by these tales, the Headman's wife must choose: lose her home and children, or her friends? Her husband talks of throwing her out if she sides with the Elder.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eStill the women argue. Hilda encourages them to tell their own stories. Listening changes everything  As they support each other, old wounds heal and they learn to value their female friendships.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Thane and his fighters will be back at full moon to take over their gathering. Together, the women plan to outwit him. They need the healer's spell-craft to raise mist ...\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eHolding their wings up like feathered arms, the cranes leaped and twirled. Sunset light gleamed through the mist, turning their white wings to gold. They moved with slow grace, each foot-thump lofted by their wing-feathers, uttering eerie calls. They vanished into clammy whiteness as the sun slid below the horizon.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHilda shivered. They wormed their way back to the boat. Meg poled the punt out through reed beds into open water.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eTomorrow\u003c\/em\u003e - Hilda's mind ran ahead - \u003cem\u003eThane and Headman might kick me out. Without me putting ideas in women's heads, they can take control. When I'm old, I'll die alone in a ditch with no apprentice to care for me, and my stories will die with me. So far I've walked with bones aching, to find somebody like Meg.\u003c\/em\u003e She buried her head in her hands. \u003cem\u003eIf I go, Meg won't ever stand in her strength, telling a story in the Great Hall. Her life will dribble away, mucking out pigsties. The light in her eyes will go out like a tallow dip. \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'Meg, they may chuck me out tomorrow.'\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'Because you make people think? Do you ever change the endings? Would you, if it meant you could stay?'\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHilda shook her head slowly. Her chest was empty - no breath came to carry words. 'I can't. Even if they kill me, I've got to tell the truth of the stories. My bones speak through me.'\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eShare this beautiful, thought-provoking book with friends. Together, we can make a difference \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49504900153617,"sku":"GOR010622127","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50401558298897,"sku":"CIN1916073808G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1916073808.jpg?v=1751061764"},{"product_id":"swan-bone-flute-book-rachel-o-leary-9781916073838","title":"The Swan-Bone Flute","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHistorical fantasy - with a difference! \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEarth lovers, climate activists, environment protectors - use this novel and its \u003cstrong\u003eQuestions for Book Clubs or for Groups\u003c\/strong\u003e to vision a sustainable future together. The characters in Wellstowe and Peony Valley live in harmony with nature - until the rule of the fist crashes into their peaceful lives with arrows and groping hands. They resist; as they protect each other and reclaim their inclusive democracy, we see how we can re-create our lives and society.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003e'You can choose tales that keep your nose in the dirt - or look around for talk that lifts you. Then it's up to you...'\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn 598 CE\/AD, Anglo-Saxon invaders have colonised the edge of the fens in uneasy peace with their neighbours, the Britons. The settlers enslaved some of these Celtic people.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen \u003cstrong\u003eUrsel\u003c\/strong\u003e jumps down from an oak to save a mother deer from the hunt, her uncle beats her but cannot silence her.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHilda the storyteller\u003c\/strong\u003e strides into their settlement, her pack full of myths of the peaceful queens and shamans of Peony Valley. She fills her listeners with dreams of honey and blood - and longing for justice.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSlave-girl Meg\u003c\/strong\u003e yearns to be a storyteller like Hilda - but dare she? What do headmen do to women who stand tall?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHer mother, \u003cstrong\u003eSeren the Healer, \u003c\/strong\u003e longs to use her spells - but has to sweep and gut fish for her owner.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eOswynne, headman's wife\u003c\/strong\u003e, is torn between loyalty to him and the nourishing company of women. Is Seren's magic mist dangerous?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen they grow from fear to friendship they have a chance to stop Thane Roger grabbing \u003cem\u003e'whatever, and whoever, he wants.' \u003c\/em\u003eWill he take over their inclusive moot, or can the women work together?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhere can we start? The \u003cstrong\u003eself-help elements\u003c\/strong\u003e of \u003cem\u003eThe Swan-Bone Flute \u003c\/em\u003einclude information about listening partnerships; the characters discover how healing this simple technique can be. They base their cooperation on friendships strengthened this way.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHilda's stories bring shamanic wisdom which sustains and guides her listeners through challenges. They learn to direct their anger and use its power to confront wrongs.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIf you like \u003cem\u003eJuliet Marillier, Mary Renault, Philip Pullman\u003c\/em\u003e, enjoy this book as a gripping read.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":53110190833937,"sku":"NIN9781916073838","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9781916073838.jpg?v=1770578427"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/the-storytellers-trilogy-book-series.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}