A magical story of snow and stars by master story-teller, Catherine Fisher. The Clockwork Crow is a mysterious gothic Christmas tale of enchantment and belonging, set in a frost-bound mansion in snowy mid-Wales.
Travelling to a new home with an unknown new family, orphan Seren Rees is shivering in a Victorian station waiting room, when she is given a mysterious newspaper parcel by a strange and frightened man, who then disappears. Reluctantly she takes it with her… But what is in the parcel? Who are the Family who must not be spoken of, and can the Crow help Seren find Tom, the boy who has been missing for a year and a day, before the owner of the parcel finds her?
THE CLOCKWORK CROW is a gripping Christmas tale of enchantment and belonging, set in a frost-bound mansion in snowy mid-Wales, from a master storyteller.
Winner of the Tir na n-Og Award 2019 for best English-language title.
Nominated for Fantastic Book Award 2020 by Lancashire School Library Service.
Short-listed for the Blue Peter Book Award 2019
Short-listed for the Independent Bookshop Week Book Award 2019 (children’s category)
Longlisted for the Grampian Children’s Book Award 2020
Shortlisted for the YBB Book Awards 2020
Shortlisted for the 2020 Ealing Junior Book Award
There are more adventures in store for Seren and the clockwork crow in the sequels THE VELVET FOX and THE MIDNIGHT SWAN published by independent Welsh publisher, Firefly Press.
Shortlisted for the Blue Peter Fiction Award 2019.
Here’s what the judges said about it:
“The Clockwork Crow is a perfectly pitched middle grade story that doesn’t put a foot wrong. Seren is a spunky, brave and determined heroine and this book is completely gripping from first page to last, poetic without being difficult to read. Catherine Fisher is a wonderfully accomplished writer. This is a highly recommended story.”
Orphan Seren Rhys has been sent to live with her mysterious Godfather after living for 12 years in an orphanage. The possibility of her first happy family Christmas seems like it might finally be within her reach.
On her solo journey to Wales, Seren is given a mysterious package to look after by a stranger and ends up feeling obliged to take it with her. But when she arrives in Wales, her Godfather and family are not in residence and she’s left with a bunch of dour servants who seem to be hiding something. It’s all very mysterious and somewhat creepy, and when she finds an enigmatic talking clockwork crow within the package, that only serves to make it weirder!
Together, they set off to solve the riddle of Plas-y-Fran, facing many perils and challenges as they go.” Book Trust
Find out what the Crow and Seren do next, in the sequel THE VELVET FOX
