Set in the midst of WW2, this is a beautiful, mysterious, adventurous yet, mostly, very sad story which is full of imagery. Emmaline, a young evacuee from Nottingham, has been sent to Briar’s Hill hospital suffering from ‘the stillwaters’. The hardships of war and illness combine to create a rather grey world, but Emmaline has a secret: she can see winged horses in the mirrors of the old house where they are being treated. When she finds an injured winged horse in the garden and begins receiving letters from The Horse Lord setting her the mission of saving the horse, she becomes absorbed by the challenge which literally brings colour into her grey world.
As the story progresses, we gradually piece together more about Emmaline’s past and about the illness the children are afflicted with as she struggles to protect the horse before it is too late. There are many details in the narrative and descriptions which you may need to return to at as the story develops to be sure you have worked everything out fully…
Although the large numbers of pictures may lead people to think this is a book for younger confident readers, it really isn’t. The illustrations are wonderful drawings that add to the mystery of the text and help to create a deeply imaginative and emotional story which is only likely to be understood or enjoyed by older readers.
If anyone does read this, it would be interesting hear what you think about it. The afterword from the author suggests that there is more than one interpretation of the ending to the story and she does not reveal which she intended, preferring instead to leave this to the reader’s own imagination.