The tale is vintage MacDonald.

When Tom is sent to his aunt's house for the summer he resigns himself to weeks of boredom. Lying awake one night he listens to the grandfather clock in the hall strike every hour. Eleven ...Twelve ...Thirteen. Thirteen! Tom rushes down the stairs and opens the back door. There, awaiting him, is a beautiful garden. A garden that shouldn't exist. And there are children in the garden too - ...

Spindle's End is a retelling of the fairy tale, The Sleeping Beauty , which takes the reader into a magical world filled with modern characters who encounter adventure, love and loss. The curse placed on Rosie at her christening will hunt her down through the years.

From familiar fairy tales and legends - Red Riding Hood , Bluebeard , Puss in Boots , Beauty and the Beast , vampires and werewolves - the author has created a collection of stories.

'To help mother': that was the goal of each and every one of the five Pepper children - Ben, Polly, Joel, Davie and the adored youngest, Phronsie. Yet even as 'Mamsie' struggles hard to feed and educate her brood, she still manages to fill the house with joy.