The Fantastical Adventures of Dottie Moorehead, (Paperback)

The Fantastical Adventures of Dottie Moorehead recounts the young life of a seven-and-a-half-year-old girl, Dottie, who lives an 'almost idyllic' childhood on Mount Garra Farm in the bucolic beauty of nineteen thirties rural Ireland just prior to the onset of the second world war. 'Almost idyllic, ' but for her taciturn grandmother and her mean older sister, Viola, who both seem determined to ruin all Dottie's fun. Dottie has an adventurous streak, just as her father and mother do, which tends to get her into all sorts of trouble. In an effort to contain the worst excesses of their youngest daughter's mischievousness, Dottie's parents decide to ask an elderly neighbour, Nell McGerathy, to take charge of their child on the many occasions where they are away on archaeological expedition or busy with their academic and charitable work. However, Nell is not just a kindly neighbour, she is also a member of a magical grouping known as "The Council of Realms (COR)." Unbeknownst to Dottie, she is destined to be educated in the craft of magic and to become one of the COR's greatest champions. Fantastical Adventures follows Dottie's initiation into the Council following months of training with Nell and a rather haughty living spell book called, Tresseld; she learns to harness her magical abilities, and how to move between realms. Fantastical Adventures sees Dottie meeting all sorts of sorcerers, magical folk, and creatures once only known to her through fairytales and legends. She discovers whole new cultures living in these alternate worlds. However, her nascent magic skills are soon put to the test when Nell, her mentor, is held captive by Mai, an old-friend-turned-bad, in the notorious realm of Sherastnorth. Dottie along with a magical being known only as "The Goodness" must launch a rescue mission into the heart of this dangerous realm.