The major fantasy debut from bestselling author Joanne Harris, now in paperback.

Seven o'clock on a Monday morning, five hundred years after the end of the world, and goblins have been at the cellar again. Not that anyone would admit it was goblins. In Maddy Smith’s world, order rules. Chaos, old gods, faeries, magic—all of these were supposedly vanquished centuries ago. But Maddy knows that a small bit of magic has survived. The “ruinmark” she was born with on her palm proves it—and makes the other villagers fearful and suspicious that she is a witch.

But the mysterious traveler One-Eye sees Maddy’s mark not as a defect, but a destiny. And Maddy will need every scrap that One-Eye can teach her about runes, cantrips, and glamours—every ounce of magic she can command—if she is to survive that destiny.

* “Harris creates a glorious and complex world replete with rune-based magical spells, bickering gods, exciting adventures and difficult moral issues.” —Publishers Weekly, Starred