'In the enchanted world of Aeolia, fifteen-year-old Esme Silver is faced with her hardest task yet. She must master her unruly Gift - the power to observe the past - and uncover the secrets she needs to save her mother, Ariane.

'In between attending school in the beguiling canal city of Esperance, Esme and her friends - old and new - travel far and wide across Aeolia, gathering the ingredients for an elixir that might help Ariane.

'Their journey takes them to volcanic isles, sunken ruins and snowy eyries, spectacular places fraught with danger, where they must face their deepest fears and find hope in the darkest of places.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'The events of the last few months flashed before her – and the years before them.

'This was her last chance.

'When fifteen-year-old Esme Silver objects at her father’s wedding, her protest is dismissed as the actions of a stubborn, selfish teenager. Everyone else has accepted the loss of Esme’s mother – so why can’t she?

'But Esme is suspicious. She is sure that others are covering up the real reason for her mother’s disappearance – that ‘lost at sea’ is code for something more terrible, something she has a right to know.

'After Esme is accidentally swept into the enchanted world of Aeolia, the truth begins to unfold. With her newfound friends, Daniel and Lillian, Esme retraces her mother’s steps in the glittering canal city of Esperance, untangling the threads of Ariane’s double life. But the more Esme discovers about Ariane, the more she questions whether she really knew her at all.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.