The Owl Service

First published in 1967, this novel is set in a Welsh valley house where Alison, her stepbrother Roger, and Gwyn, the housekeeper's son, find a dinner service patterned with owls. The pattern, and scratches in the attic, draw them into a local version of the Blodeuwedd story, in which a woman made of flowers betrays her husband and is turned into an owl. Class tension between Gwyn and Roger, and the adults' secrets, repeat the old triangle. Rain, river, and the packed plates carry the pressure. The book is a contemporary fantasy of myth returning in a household, not a folklore handbook.

Bound in green cloth, cover blocked with a black and white picture. Green slipcase.