Malva is the princess of Galnicia, destined to marry the Prince of Andemark. Or so her parents think. On the eve of her wedding, she escapes at dead of night from under her parents' noses, little realising that she is letting herself in for a life of peril and adventure, including being shipwrecked in a huge storm and captured as part of a harem. Hugely visual, the book tells of the wonder of frozen steppes and oriental palaces, of sailing ships and treasure islands. This is a book of drama, magic and excitement, where challenges have to be overcome, friendships cemented and hearts broken.

 

There are 448 pages in this book. This book was published 2007 by Bloomsbury Publishing PLC .

Anthea Bellwas awarded the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and the Helen and Kurt Wolff Prize (USA) in 2002 for her translation of W. G. Sebald's Austerlitz . Her many works of translation from French and German (for which she has received several other awards) include the Nicholas books and, with Derek Hockridge, the entire Asterix the Gaul saga by Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo. Anne-Laure Bondoux is a well-known French writer. She has written several novels for young adults in several genres and received many literary awards and prizes in her native France. Abderraouf Habbachi is a first time French/Arabic literary translator with a rare eye for rendering complex prose.