As many fairy tales do, this one begins with a father and mother desperately wanting a child.
They take their request to the Owl Mother, who grants them a child, with one condition - to send it back in twelve years.
Back home, the infant grows strong and beautiful - except for the two strange brown spots on her back, which eventually (to her mother's utter dismay) bud into wings, which begin to grow larger. Mother, desperate to keep Gwinna grounded and safe, binds them up beneath ribbons and destroys all the looking glasses.
Despite that, on her twelfth birthday, the owls come for Gwinna, and her parents are turned to stone. Now this precocious child must learn to navigate her wings, her deepest desires, and her memories of home in order to save both the Owl Mother, her own family, and her homeland. Her quest takes her to a magical place beneath the center of the world, where a kindly griffin, a beautiful dryad, and a magical harp teach her to play the music of life.
Such a pretty little story, and beautiful illustrations. The one where she and the griffin are seated beneath the dryad tree is almost biblical in style, while the one of her practicing flight on a craggy outcrop in the woods seems like it could appear in a naturalist catalog.
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