The Tale Of Elske

Elske is a girl with no future—until her grandmother's sacrifice saves her from certain death. Beriel is an imperious princess—determined to claim the kingdom that is her birthright. Fate brings them together, both exiles, one servant to the other. To Beriel, the mistress, Elske offers steadfast loyalty and courage—hard to come by in her dangerous quest to regain the throne she has been denied by treachery. To Elske, the handmaiden, Beriel’s proud example provides a perhaps even more precious gift: the strength to find her true self.

Raised among the barbaric Wolfers, thirteen-year-old Elske is saved from becoming the king's death sacrifice by her grandmother, and flees north, where she becomes the servant and friend of Princess Beriel--who is determined to claim the kingdom that is her birthright, stolen from her by her treacherous brother.

She never knew she had a self. From the time she was a child, she was prepared to sacrifice her life when the Volkking summoned her. She never knew she had a heart, until she set out on a journey north to live among strangers. She never knew she had a choice, until she chose to trust the princess she was told to serve. And she never knew her own value, until she met the man who understood her strength, and who could taste the honey in her name: Elske. But the princess Beriel had always known who she was and what she was worth. She had always had a heart, and a stubborn one. She had always made her own choices, even when they were forced upon her. What Beriel did not have was the one thing she valued above all else, and that was the throne to her kingdom. With immense power and compassion, Cynthia Voigt, Newbery Medalist, depicts the parallel quests of two extraordinary young women. As Elske seeks to find her true self and Beriel battles to reclaim what is rightfully hers, both discover the value, and the price, of reaching the journey's end.

Raised among the barbaric Wolfers, thirteen-year-old Elske is saved from becoming the king's death sacrifice by her grandmother, and flees north, where she becomes the servant and friend of Princess Beriel--who is determined to claim the kingdom that is her birthright, stolen from her by her treacherous brother.

When hard times among the People revive the old stories of the hero Jackaroo, an innkeeper's daughter follows her own quest to unlock the secret reality behind the legend.

Motherhood, nurture and violence – these are the themes of Elske Rahill's remarkable first collection, In White Ink. Rahill brings to life the psychological and physical reality of mothering, pregnancy and childbirth in ways that few others writers have attempted. Here is a biting realism, in the relations between men and women and in the expectations and failures of their assigned roles. Each story is illumined by moments of harsh poetry. They are carefully crafted snapshots of our condition. In the title story, an isolated young mother is locked in to a custody battle with her abusive husband; 'Right to Reply' shows three generations of women confronting the terrible legacy of their family's past; in 'Toby', a woman obsessed with hygiene finally snaps, when she finds her home is infested with fleas. The precision of Rahill's prose, the stoicism of her unflinching narrative gaze, reveal characters caught up in violently emotional situations. The version of motherhood found here is painful. Yet its endurance, as nature's greatest force, is brilliantly and compassionately rendered.

Featuring brand new short stories from Kevin Barry, Eimear McBride, Belinda McKeon, Lisa McInerney, Danielle McLaughlin, Stuart Neville, Sally Rooney, Kit de Waal and many more.Ireland is going through a golden age of writing: that has never been more apparent. I wanted to capture something of the energy of this explosion, in all its variousness... Following her own acclaimed short-story collection, Multitudes, Lucy Caldwell guest-edits the sixth volume of Faber's long-running series of all new Irish short stories, continuing the work of the late David Marcus and subsequent guest editors, Joseph O'Connor, Kevin Barry and Deirdre Madden.

Now in a handsome trade paperback edition comes the dramatic conclusion to the "Kingdom" sequence. Thirteen-year-old Elske escapes rape and certain death at the hands of the leaders of her barbaric society and later becomes handmaiden to a rebellious noblewoman, whose rightful throne together they reclaim.