The Map of Leaves

Since Ma died, Orla has lived alone in a woodshed by the river.
Her garden provides everything she needs. But when people begin
to fall sick, Governor Atlas decrees that the plants are the
cause and must be destroyed. Armed only with her mother's book of
remedies Orla sets out on a barge-boat to discover the truth and
save her garden ...

---

 
Set in a world where plants talk, friendship is hard-won
and adventure is around the bend of every river ...

'Townsend has crafted an uncannily rich and tactile atmosphere,
grounding the reader in the setting so successfully that I
could almost feel the river mist settling in my hair.' SARAH
DRIVER


'Just finished this breathless marvel and there's so much
to love about it. Wild and imaginative storytelling, it introduces
us to talking oaks, poisonous rock and a central character with
a lot to prove.' FLEUR HITCHCOCK


Orla has lived on her own since Ma died, with only her beloved
garden for company. When sickness comes and nature is blamed, Orla
knows she must find a cure.


Armed with her mother's book of plants and remedies, she steals
away on a river boat with two other stowaways, Idris and Ariana.



Soon the trio must navigate the rapids of the Inkwater to a poisonous
place from which they may never return ...





The debut novel from an astonishingly talented new writer


A wild rapids-ride of a story, suffused at every turn
with authentic details of the natural world

A gorgeous gifty book: a flapped paperback with illustration
by Marie-Alice Harel.