The Dark Horse

Sedgwick's dark tapestry weaves loyalty and betrayal in a stark, affecting narrative. The Storn are a simple people, living close to nature and dependent on it. When crop yields are poor and the fishing fails, suspicion falls on Mouse, the strange, silent child found in a cave of wolves. Sigurd takes Mouse as his sister, encouraging her to use her powers to aid his people in the struggle to overcome the vagaries of the natural world and their own apathy - a listlessness which prevents them fulfilling their potential - an over-reliance on a flawed leader and awe of ancient and ineffectual traditions. Sigurd is used by Mouse when she allows herself to be reclaimed by her people, the bleakly vicious Dark Horse. This bitter act of betrayal shatters the Storn on every level but under Sigurd's leadership they find a new, determined way to survive. The compelling narrative is divided between Sigurd and Sedgwick, giving at once an intense intimacy and a broader perspective - a wider framework within which to enclose the immediacy and directness of Sigurd's experience.