Silver Bough

'Lisa Tuttle is a subtle and clever writer whose fantasy deals with the world we all believe we have sensed from time to time out of the corners of our eyes.' Michael Moorcock Appleton is a small town nestled on the coast of Scotland. Though it was once famous for the apples it produced, these days it's a shadow of its former self. But in a hidden orchard a golden apple dangles from a silver bough, an apple believed lost for ever. The apple is part of a legend, promising either eternal happiness to the young couple who eat from it secure in their love - or a curse, for those who take its gift for granted. Now, as the town teeters on the edge of decline, the old rituals have been forgotten and the mists are rolling in. And in the mist, something is stirring . . .

The Silver Darlings is a tale of lives hard won from a cruel sea and crueller landlords. It tells of strong young men and stronger women whose loves, fears and sorrows are set deep in a landscape of raw beauty and bleak reward. The dawning of the Herring Fisheries brought with it the hope of escape from the brutality of the Highland Clearances, and Neil Gunn's story paints a vivid picture of a community fighting against nature and history and refusing to be crushed.

Award-winning author Lisa Tuttle delivers a riveting novel combining one man’s search for a missing woman with history’s most enduring legends of the disappeared. “A thriller, detective story, and fantasy all in one . . . Unique, a winner!”—Dean Koontz What happens when someone vanishes without a trace? Ian Kennedy always had a penchant for stories about missing people—and a knack for finding them. Now a sought-after private investigator, Ian faces a case he fears he cannot solve . . . and one he knows he must. Laura Lensky’s stunning twenty-one-year-old daughter, Peri, has been missing for over two years. But when Ian learns the details of her disappearance, he discovers eerie parallels to an obscure Celtic myth and the haunting case that launched his career—a success he’s never fully been able to explain. Though Ian suspects that Peri chose to vanish, he takes on the search. What follows leads him and those who care for Peri into the Highlands of Scotland, as the unknowns of the past and present merge in the case—and in their lives. Praise for The Mysteries “Lisa Tuttle never disappoints. . . . Richly imagined and beautifully written, The Mysteries lingers in the mind long after the last page is turned.”—George R. R. Martin “A remarkable piece of work . . . Successfully balancing the miraculous and the mundane, The Mysteries offers a variety of unexpected pleasures and marks the overdue return of a stylish, distinctive storyteller.”—Washington Post Book World “Superlative dark fantasy . . . Tuttle has total command of setting, style and her folklore sources.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A special 25th anniversary edition of the beloved book that has changed millions of lives with the story of an unforgettable friendship, the timeless wisdom of older generations, and healing lessons on loss and grief—featuring a new afterword by the author “A wonderful book, a story of the heart told by a writer with soul.”—Los Angeles Times “The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in.” Maybe it was a grandparent, or a teacher, or a colleague. Someone older, patient and wise, who understood you when you were young and searching, helped you see the world as a more profound place, gave you sound advice to help you make your way through it. For Mitch Albom, that person was his college professor Morrie Schwartz. Maybe, like Mitch, you lost track of this mentor as you made your way, and the insights faded, and the world seemed colder. Wouldn’t you like to see that person again, ask the bigger questions that still haunt you, receive wisdom for your busy life today the way you once did when you were younger? Mitch Albom had that second chance. He rediscovered Morrie in the last months of the older man’s life. Knowing he was dying, Morrie visited with Mitch in his study every Tuesday, just as they used to back in college. Their rekindled relationship turned into one final “class”: lessons in how to live. “The truth is, Mitch,” he said, “once you learn how to die, you learn how to live.” Tuesdays with Morrie is a magical chronicle of their time together, through which Mitch shares Morrie’s lasting gift with the world.

The Silver Bough is a journey into a forgotten Otherworld of hollow hills, glass mountains and fabled islands. With over twenty myths and folktales arising from the rich traditions of the world, from ancient Egypt and Iceland, to New Zealand, Siberia and the Celtic lands, among the stories are Gwyn and the Lady of the Lake, The Shipwrecked Sailor, Galahad's Quest for the Grail and Apples of Immortality. Each of the five accompanying sections is woven from the threads of each tale. Rich in symbolism, shamanic traditions and esoteric wisdom, The Silver Bough traverses ancient cosmologies, from the kingdom of the dead and the starlit realm, to the domain of the flood and the land of the hidden folk.

Introduced by Stewart Sanderson. This book, the first and most popular of four volumes, is a marvellous and indispensable treasury of Scottish folklore and folk belief from the world of Celtic magic, gods and fairies, to the prophecies of the Brahan seer, second sight, witchcraft, earth magic, selkies, changelings and a host of traditional spells and cures. The Silver Bough involved many years of research into both living and recorded folklore. Its genesis lies perhaps in the author's need to reconcile the old primitive world she had glimpsed in her Orkney childhood, with the sophisticated modern world she later entered. This much loved and highly regarded work remains a classic of literature. 'If you are looking for an insight into the Celtic mindset, or interested in the background of Scottish literature or in Scottish folklore for its own sake . . . I know of no other single volume I could so unreservedly recommend to you.' Books in Scotland