Donella's life is simple. Help her guardian, Toma, make bread. Try to avoid conflict with the other villagers, who don't trust her because of her origins outside the village. Go into the Woode, the enchanted forest on the border of the village, whenever she's asked. Try to obey the rules about faei. The faei, a magical race she has never seen, dwell deep in the Woode. More than a hundred years ago, one of the faei royalty cursed the Woode to stay locked in winter. Eolande was a princess who practiced Black Magick. When she killed her parents in an attempt to rule the Woode for herself, she was banished by her husband. The human villagers have avoided the faei ever since, terrified of the power the magical beings can harness. The faei, in their turn, have stopped coming out to the edges of the Woode. All of Donella's life, she has been the only villager willing to go into the trees of the Woode. Toma sends her to collect ingredients from the forest, and sometimes the other villagers ask her to go in for other things-fire wood or medicinal herbs. The rules are absolute. No looking for faei, no eye contact, and no speaking if one of them finds her. She must stay on the paths and never touch anything that looks out of the ordinary. Donella obeys, though she isn't sure the rules are necessary after all this time. Then, almost by chance on an errand, she touches a mark on a tree and everything begins to change. Donella finds herself caught up in a plan to break the magical winter over the Woode. Oren, Eolande's former husband, and his advisor enlist her help gathering allies and beginning the enchantment that will free the Woode from its icy enchantment. Along the way, Donella makes some surprising new friends. She finds out that things aren't always as they seem, sometimes you can't trust your own memories, and giving up everything you've ever known might be the only way to become who you need to be. In the race to save the Woode before Eolande can destroy it, she will have to face enchantments on her own body and mind, a magical illness, and betrayals she never could have anticipated. The villagers she grew up with will doubt her, leaving her feeling alone and stranded. Still, she will find understanding in an ancient creature who shows her nothing but kindness, a new family with the faei, and unexpected new abilities. Donella, Oren, and Ankou must restore the Woode to its former climate and health before Eolande can return and finish destroying everything the faei love. The curse runs deeper than they ever imagined, though, and Eolande is more powerful than anyone could have known. A confrontation with her seems inevitable, but there is no way to prepare Donella for it. When the time comes, Donella and her friends must face their enemy in one of the most magically potent places in the Woode. But are they prepared for the reality of what they must face? Is Donella ready to see how deeply her mind has been affected by everything she has been through?
