Wise Child

Monica Furlong is best known in the United States for her two award-winning books for young adults, Wise Child and its prequel, Juniper. In her homeland of England, she was many things-journalist, biographer, novelist, feminist, activist, and social commentator and critic. To all of these roles she brought her abiding commitment to the Christian faith and her simultaneous disillusionment with established social structures. Confronting injustice and hypocrisy wherever she found it, she campaigned for changes to laws that discriminated against homosexuals and successfully led a movement for the ordination of women in the Church of England.Monica Furlong finished Colman, the sequel to Wise Child, just before her death in January 2003, in Devon, England. She was seventy-two years old.

Orphaned by the death of her grandmother and her father's disappearance, 9-year-old Wise Child is taken in by Juniper, a healer and sorceress. Soon enough, the young girl finds herself flourishing under Juniper's care-learning about herbal lore, and even introductory magic. But just as she begins to feel at home in the Scottish village, the girl's mother-the black witch Maeve-returns.Forced to choose between Maeve and Juniper, Wise Child has a difficult decision to make. She could stay with Juniper or leave with Maeve and adopt a life of luxury. In making her choice, Wise Child comes to discover her own growing supernatural powers and true loyalties.As the story unfolds, Maeve's evil magic-a mysterious plague-and the fears of villagers put Wise Child and Juniper in very real danger.Make sure you discover more about this fascinating world in Monica Furlong's classic prequel, Juniper.