When Thomas Rose discovers Ling, a young French girl who has run away from the circus, his life is suddenly and irrevocably changed... 19th-century Lincolnshire: Thomas, who is dyslexic, has never met anyone remotely like Ling wild, care-free, determined and he falls in love. Ling's horse, Belladonna, has been stolen and Ling fears she is in the hands of the painter Mr George Stubbs, known for flailing horses to learn about their anatomy. When Thomas and Ling pay Stubbs a visit, they learn the true whereabouts of Belladonna, and Thomas is offered a job with Stubbs, who also teaches him to read and write. Thomas and Ling devise a plan to steal back Belladonna, knowing, if caught, Ling could pay with her life.

 

 

There are 400 pages in this book.

It is aimed at Young Adult readers. The term Young Adult (YA) is used for books which have the following characteristics: (1) aimed at ages 12-18 years, US grades 7-12, UK school years 8-15, (2) around 50-75k words long, (3) main character is aged 12-18 years, (4) topics include self-reflection, internal conflict vs external, analyzing life and its meaning, (5) point of view is often in the first person, and (6) swearing, violence, romance and sexuality are allowed.

This book was published in 2011 by Walker Books Ltd .

Mary Finn is Irish and lives in Dublin. She used to be a journalist but is now a parliamentary reporter - a very different job - in the Oireachtas, or Irish houses of parliament. Her previous books for Walker are Anila's Journey (9781406306590), which won the Eilis Dillon Award, and The Horse Girl (9781406329100).