Susannah Appelbaum

Back in the Kingdom of Caux after her journey to its sisterland, Ivy wakes up in a dismal orphanage alongside her friend Rue. Accompanied by a strange woman named Lumpen—who looks suspiciously like a scarecrow—the girls make their way back to Templar to plan a massive battle against the Tasters Guild, where Vidal Verjouce is making ink out of the deadly Scourge Bracken weed. Rocamadour grows darker and more dangerous with every drop.

With an army of scarecrows, a legion of birds, and her friends and uncle by her side, it's up to Ivy—the true "Shepherd of Weeds"—to wage war against the Guild, defeat her own father, and restore order to the plant world. Susannah Appelbaum's imagination soars in this stunning and utterly satisfying final volume of the Poisons of Caux trilogy.

SUSANNAH APPELBAUM comes from a family of doctors and philosophers, which instilled in her both an early fascination and a great deal of caution with bottles marked "poison." The idea for the Poisons of Caux trilogy was born when she lived in an old woodcutter's cottage in French apple country as a child: "Out of the door were ancient forests, wild boars, and new and inviting foods to taste."

Susannah worked in magazine publishing for many years and now lives with her family in the Hudson Valley, New York, and in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, where her garden prefers to grow weeds. To learn more about the author, please visit www.susannahappelbaum.com.