Gone are the Leaves - Tapa blanda

Utterly mesmerising and moving. A strange, Scottish fairytale told in lilting, hypnotic prose -- Eve Harris, Booker Prize-longlisted author of The Marrying of Chani Kaufman Gone Are The Leaves is a poetic and deftly-crafted tale, richly told in magical language - a quest for purity, truth and ultimately, love. With consummate skill, Anne Donovan has produced a wonder of daring and passion, a mythical page-turner -- Kitty Aldridge, the Baileys Prize-longlisted author of A Trick I Learned from Dead Men Anne Donovan is outstanding -- Melvyn Bragg Quirky and endearing. Don't wait until your next life too read it * * Sunday Herald on Buddha Da * * An enchanting novel in which ordinary lives are illuminated with extraordinary charm * * Daily Telegraph on Buddha Da * * Donovan skilfully draws to a climax of cinematic proportions * * The List * * A story that began with one word, a word that brought life to a young boy with the voice of an angel, has evolved into what Angela Jackson described as 'a poetic and beautiful book, a story brought to life by the Scots language * * Edinburgh Reporter * * A beautiful tale . . . with such a passion for the language, and such an ear for its rhythms and alliterations, you'll find yourself wishing all books could be written like this. Perhaps it's too far to suggest that this was the book Donovan was born to write, but it fits her like a glove * * Scotsman * * A gorgeously rendered upscale historical novel * * Library Journal * *

Feilamort can remember very little of his childhood before he became a choir boy in the home of the Laird and his French wife. Feilamort has one of the finest voices in the land. It is a gift he believes will protect him . . . Deirdre has lived in the castle all her short life. Apprentice to her mother, she embroiders the robes for one of Scotland's finest families. She can capture, with just a few delicate stitches, the ripeness of a bramble or the glint of bronze on a fallen leaf. But with her mother pushing her to choose between a man she does not love and a closed world of prayer and solitude, Deirdre must decide for herself what her life will become. When the time comes for Feilamort to make an awful decision, his choice catapults himself and Deirdre head-first into adulthood. As the two friends learn more about Feilamort's forgotten childhood, it becomes clear that someone close is intent on keeping it hidden. Full of wonder and intrigue, and told with the grace and charm for which Anne Donovan is so beloved, Gone Are the Leaves is the enchanting story of one boy's lost past and his uncertain future.