illustrations by Angela Hoppe Kingston
Apecs Press Caerleon 2000
hb 0 9537267 3 8

The author has chosen aspects of the legend and other Celtic symbols and woven them into a contemporary tale of bullying in a Welsh village school.

'I wanted to tell a contemporary story against the backdrop of the legend which would synthesise past and present Welsh culture,' she said.

The heroine of the title is an enigmatic character who has strange moods. She behaves strangely and has an affinity with nature and water.

'Nia is Wyn's informing spirit. Wyn is the real hero of the story, he suffers verbal and physical abuse before Nia helps him to learn how to deal with the bullying.'

Standing stones and cairns are scattered throughout the land of Wales. Some bear inscriptions either in Ogham or Celtic lettering sometimes both.

'If you look at the Ogham lettering on a standing stone, you think of the people who inscribed the stone. They wanted to give a message to people of the future and they are worth listening to. It is a collective consciousness which should not be ignored. It has made the Welsh people what they are today. Wyn and Elfryn have contemporary problems, the resolution is possible because of the influence of the lake and Wyn's heritage'.