Yarrow Townsend
Yarrow Townsend spent her childhood among the moss, oak and heather of the New Forest. After working as a teacher, and then as a stablehand, Yarrow completed an MA in Writing for Young People at Bath Spa University, before returning to the forest to work for the RSPB. Always in search of ways to be closer to the outdoors, Yarrow now lives on a narrowboat, travelling the canals with her garden on the roof. The Map of Leaves is inspired by her life by the woods and the water, and by her own parents’ herb books. Follow her: @yarrowtownsend
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 … but she’s not the only stowaway.
With the rapids of the River Inkwater ahead, three children set a dangerous course that may lead them to a cure – and from which they may never return.
