Truth Singer

E. Jane Philipps is head of the Biology Library at Queen’s University
in Kingston.

Every living thing possesses a distinct song, which reveals its true
identity. The adolescent Nathan, a gifted musician, can hear these
harmonies, but, convinced that his music caused his parents’
separation, chooses not to. Friendless in a new school and harassed by
the local bully, Nathan finds himself overwhelmed by feelings of
inadequacy and unhappiness overwhelm him. In company with oddball Katie,
who is possessed of her own strange magic, and his mysterious Uncle
Nevill, Nathan travels back through the time streams to the medieval
kingdom of Angliocch. There, Nevill the TruthSinger and Myrdd the
WyndCaller, the two keepers of the time streams, battle the age-old
forces of evil and help their successors, Katie and Nathan, understand
and embrace their powers.

From the threads of music and magic inherent in language,
Haworth-Attard skilfully weaves the cloth of a superbly literate
fantasy. The authentic voices of the 20th-century characters blend with
the traditional elements of other-world fiction to re-create them in a
rich new guise. Engrossing from beginning to end, TruthSinger seamlessly
combines a down-to-earth reality with an imaginary world so that both
seem almost tangible. Highly recommended.