The Mystery of the Fool & The Vanisher

From the creator of FAIRIE-ALITY, an eerie tale-within-a-tale weaves stunning photographs into a thrilling, time-shifting mystery that leaves readers questioning what is real.

Some say the English Downs are haunted by fairy creatures — and that those who find a flint stone with a hole through it can look into the fairies' realm. It is just such a stone that leads photographer David Ellwand on a dark journey to the past, one that starts with a musty wooden chest and a nineteenth-century journal and ends with a disappearance as sudden as a vintage camera's flash. In this journal-within-a-journal, illustrated by Ellwand's exquisite photographs, lies a tale of archaeologists and fairies, human hubris and otherworldly revenge, the magic of the natural world and the mystery of the imagination.

David Ellwand, creator of the internationally renowned FAIRIE-ALITY, CINDERLILY, and many other acclaimed books, is a photographer, artist, and printmaker whose home in West Sussex, England, is located very near the mysterious happenings in this book.

Ruth Ellwand, a children's publishing specialist, previously collaborated with her husband, David, on MIDAS MOUSE. She lives with him in West Sussex, England.