Breaking the Spell

The Scottish mountains, forests and coastline are an integral part of this collection of ten stirring traditional tales. They include a moving story of the child of a selkie – a seal that can shed its skin and turn into a human. Many of the tales have brave heroines such as Janet who defends her lover Tam Linn from the Fairy Queen and farmer Kate who prevents a ‘wee old wifie’ from stealing her child by guessing her name. The chilling elements of the stories are leavened a little by the humour in the way the characters are portrayed in the illustrations.