A WHISPER OF HORSES

Set in a world where horses are thought to be extinct, this debut middle grade novel is about a girl who finds a map that hints there is life outside of her repressive city. With the help of a trader boy and his dog, she escapes beyond the city walls and heads into the unknown to find the horses she's always dreamt about.

‘What were they like? Did you ever see one? Are there any still alive? Alas no and no to those last two questions of yours. I have never seen a real horse in my life. I very much doubt if anyone alive has ever seen a real horse. They died out far too long ago for that.’

Serendipity Gouge is about twelve and lives in Lahn Dahn, a city with a wall around it, ten people high, called the Emm Twenty Five. Nobody comes in and nobody goes out, and the Minister rules the city with an iron fist, freezing all troublemakers and standing them out at Two Swords for everyone to see. The rich live in crystal towers with magnificent wealth and the poor spend their days working in the lotments for a squashy potato or a tiny bit of goat’s milk.

Serendipity loves horses. No-one has ever seen one in real life, but there are statues of them around the city, and paintings and drawings, and there’s the little lost wooden horse her mother gave her when she was little. When Serendipity’s mother dies, she’s left all alone and is taken in by a kind storyteller. But the Minister's law means that orphans will shortly be moved into work-houses, and Serendipity knows she must get away. When she finds a map that suggests there is life outside of Lahn Dahn, and a place where horses roam, she knows she needs to escape from the city, out beyond the wall and the Minister's grip. With the help of a trader boy called Tab, and his little dog Mouse, she heads into the unknown to find the horses she's always dreamt about.

Zillah Bethell was born in a leprosy hospital in Papua New Guinea, spent her childhood barefoot playing in the jungle, and didn’t own a pair of shoes until she came to the UK when she was eight. She was educated at Oxford University and lives in Wales with her family. Zillah has written two adult novels for a small Welsh press. This is her first children’s book.