The Map of Leaves

Set in a world where plants talk, friendship is hard-won

and adventure is around the bend of every river …

‘Townsend has crafted an uncannily rich and tactile atmosphere,

grounding the reader in the setting so successfully that I

could almost feel the river mist settling in my hair.’ SARAH

DRIVER

‘Just finished this breathless marvel and there’s so much

to love about it. Wild and imaginative storytelling, it introduces

us to talking oaks, poisonous rock and a central character with

a lot to prove.’ FLEUR HITCHCOCK

‘A striking new voice and a thrilling, beautiful, important

book, full of characters I will never forget.’ NATASHA

FARRANT

Orla has lived on her own since Ma died, with only her beloved

garden for company. When sickness comes and nature is blamed, Orla

knows she must find a cure.

Armed with her mother’s book of plants and remedies, she steals

away on a river boat with two other stowaways, Idris and Ariana.

Soon the trio must navigate the rapids of the Inkwater to a poisonous

place from which they may never return …

The debut novel from an astonishingly talented new writer

A wild rapids-ride of a story, suffused at every turn

with authentic details of the natural world

A gorgeous gifty book: a flapped paperback with illustration

by Marie-Alice Harel