The Hawthorn Crown

Every story needs a hero. Every hero needs a friend. Carla never believed Aoife's tales of fairies, monsters and changeling girls. But she faithfully followed her best friend down into the dangerous fairy world - to rescue a boy, and save a kingdom. Until Aoife sent Carla spinning back to the human world, terrified for her safety. But as Aoife faces demons and death alone, Carla has her own battles at home - creatures to defeat and boys to protect. And it's not long before the promised war between humans and fairies explodes onto the fields of rural Ireland. Whilst Aoife will fight for the Hawthorn Crown in the Land of the Young, Carla must use all her ingenuity and skill to protect the village she grew up in - the village she loves. Every story needs its heroes . . .

One of humankind’s oldest companions, the hawthorn tree, is bound up in the memories of every recorded age and the plot lines of cultures all across the Northern Hemisphere. Hawthorn examines the little-recognized political, cultural, and natural history of this ancient spiky plant. Used for thousands of years in the impenetrable living fences that defined the landscapes of Europe, the hawthorn eventually helped feed the class antagonism that led to widespread social upheaval. In the American Midwest, hawthorn-inspired hedges on the prairies made nineteenth-century farming economically rewarding for the first time. Later, in Normandy, mazelike hedgerows bristling with these thorns nearly cost the Allies World War II. Bill Vaughn shines light on the full scope of the tree’s influence over human events. He also explores medicinal uses of the hawthorn, the use of its fruit in the world’s first wine, and the symbolic role its spikes and flowers played in pagan beliefs and Christian iconography. As entertaining as it is illuminating, this book is the first full appreciation of the hawthorn’s abundant connections with humanity.

Aoife has returned. Back with her family after her adventures in the Land of the Young – where she rescued her younger sister Eva, narrowly escaping the evil fairy Dorocha – she is adjusting to life in the human world. But this is hard when you are trying to contain an otherworldly power . . . and even harder when you've been thought dead, mourned by those you love. Aoife’s world collapses completely when Shay, her fellow traveller and love of her life, abandons her. He is a lenanshee – and it is dangerous to love, and be loved, by such a fairy. But Shay is trapped in his own web of desire, as dark forces move against the pair. When he is taken in by a beautiful demon, this can only mean a return to the Fairy World. Aoife – with her best friend Carla – must battle old and new enemies, meet old and new friends, and use all her Fairy Powers to save Shay – her true Beloved. And when days in the Fairy World are months in the human world, time runs out very fast indeed . . .

Non-technical handbook discussing management of shrubs or woody vines most important to wildlife in the Northeast U.S. and Canada.