Chasing Ravens
Book # 1
By- Jessica E. Paige
Genre- YA Fairy Tale/Folklore
Orphaned at a young age, 15-year old Anouk's punishment for being too outspoken is an arranged marriage worse than any she could imagine. Fleeing on horseback, yet without a sense of where to turn, she stumbles upon an idyllic village where she finds safe haven. Could this be home?
Ultimately, it will lead her to confront the very face of death, yet amidst the danger and darkness, she meets a handsome woodsman and finds a glowing blue flower with power beyond her wildest dreams.
Inspired by Russian fairy tales and steeped in ancient folklore, Paige's novel is ripe with fantasy, love, and courage.
Character Spotlight-
Chasing Ravens has a lot of different healing herbs and plants mentioned throughout the book. If you had to pick a favorite herb to represent some of your main characters, what would you choose and why?For Chasing Ravens heroine, Anouk, I would choose Hawthorn. Hawthorn is an enchanted and sacred tree in many traditions and it grows wild in some of the harshest places, just as Anouk grows through her challenges. Hawthorn is sometimes called May-tree because it blooms in the spring around May Day. Spring is a time of new beginnings, which Anouk certainly finds both in Devya and during her journey into the Dark Woods. Hawthorn's beautiful white flowers turn to red berries in the fall. Both the flowers and the berries are harvested and used medicinally for a range of purposes, but Hawthorn is best known for its heart healing properties, as you might guess from the deep red of the berries. (According to the Doctrine of Signatures, an ancient philosophy, it is believed that an herb often resembles the part of the body it can heal.) I think this relates to Anouk because she is a very heart-full person. She has great love for her family, friends, animals, the people of Devya, and also for the forest. She's quite courageous in her willingness to follow her heart.
But there is one more thing that I think is significant about Hawthorn: its thorns. When you gather berries from a Hawthorn tree, these thorns can almost be overlooked because they are relatively few. But if you don't exercise some caution and respect while gathering, you may find yourself stuck by one of those long sharp thorns. I think Anouk has the same generous, abundant and giving nature of a Hawthorn overflowing with berries, but she is also tough. She stands up for herself and her skill with a bow is part of what protects her, each of her arrows a bit like one of those thorns.
Jessica Paige hails from the Seattle area where she lives with her husband and two dogs. Though she was raised in the Pacific Northwest, Jessica has long been intrigued by the ancient folklore of her Slavic and Lithuanian roots. Her love of horses and the outdoors led her to a career in environmental outreach, and her studies in herbalism. When she's not working or writing, you'll find her digging in the garden, creating herbal remedies, or walking in the woods with her dogs. You can visit her at www. jessicaepaige.com.
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