"Outsiders fleeing a war-torn world, an extraordinary gift, and the search for somewhere that feels like home — this richly-imagined magical adventure resonates deep."
Powerfully allegorical, Ross MacKenzie’s The Uninvited melds magic with exploring important issues around immigration and freedom. As such, alongside being a peril-packed adventure, steeped in danger and dark secrets, it also raises pertinent questions regarding a present-day climate that’s hostile to those seeking refuge.
Boasting an inventive structure, and a tension-heightening present-tense narrative, the story begins with a “spark in the sky” and a “flicker of magic”, as observed by a family on the Isle of Lewes. And then comes the first moment of the Arrival, when hundreds of “ragged, pointed-eared men and women with packs and bags slung over shoulders [and] children clutching stuffed animals” slip into the human world seeking a place of safety, away from the war that’s ravaging their land.
Four years on, and thirteen-year-old Samm lives in a refugee camp that’s provoking strong reactions in the UK. While some human rights groups say “keeping the people of Faerae in a camp like this is against their rights”, others are “vehemently opposed to allowing Faerae folk to stay in the country at all”. So far, so powerfully familiar.
Then, into this conflicted environment and the brutal conditions of the camp, eight years after the Arrival Samm discovers he has a powerful gift that might hold the key to ending the war in his homeland, and to reopening the portal between two worlds. At the same time, while Samm’s quest compels him to enter an array of terrifying places, including a nightmarish circus, a human boy might too have a role to play in the fate of the Faeraes… Bravo to MacKenzie for conjuring such a vivid, conversation-starting magical adventure.
When the Faerie folk flee their world and come to ours, running from the nightmare of war, nobody in the everyday knows what to do. So they are locked away.
Thirteen-year-old Samm Wolfback lives in Glass Forest, a sprawling Faerae refugee camp in England. Life in Glass Forest is hard, poisoned by disease and crime and poverty. But Samm has a unique gift that lines his pockets - he can find lost things.
When Samm is thrust into the centre of a plot to escape Glass Forest and return home, he must use his gifts to unearth two treasures lost in the everyday: a relic that will end the war back in Faerae; and the only person with the power to reopen the door between worlds - the Locksmith. The task will take Samm to dark places filled with danger, from a grimly enchanted circus of nightmares to a museum housing a murderous exhibit, and he will have to use all of his skills to stay alive.
Meanwhile, in the human world, a kidnapped boy with a dark secret begins to realise that he might hold the key to the Faerae folks' fate. Before all is said and done, destiny's web will entangle him with Samm and send them spinning towards a showdown with the great evil that lurks in the world beyond the door.
An astonishing magical adventure story from the award-winning Ross MacKenzie - exploring themes of immigration, colonisation and freedom.
'This is a really special book. A rare combination of wildly imaginative and deeply thought-provoking. Simply magical.' A. F. Steadman author of the Skandar series.
'The Uninvited will take you on an unforgettable journey across the country and between worlds, with a cast of characters who will stay with you long after you've devoured the final thrilling page.' - Chris Smith
Author
About Ross MacKenzie
Ross MacKenzie has been writing stories since he was seven years old, when he created an illustrated short story about a hungry crocodile named Crunchy Colin in a smuggled school jotter. His novel The Nowhere Emporium won the Blue Peter Best Story Award and the Scottish Children’s Book Award. He is also the winner of the Scottish Teenage Book Prize 2021. He now splits his time between writing, his day job as a graphic designer and his wife, daughters and cocker spaniel, with whom he lives near Glasgow.
A Q&A with Ross about his novel The Nowhere Emporium
Where did your inspiration for The Nowhere Emporium come from?
It’s a bit mysterious, actually! The Emporium sort of popped into my head fully formed. I could see this strange old shop so clearly in my head, the sparkling black brick and the faded sign. I knew the shop never stayed in one place for very long, and of course I had to find out why, so I wrote the story.
What is your favourite room in the Nowhere Emporium?
Actually, my favourite place in the entire Emporium is the shop-front where Daniel first meets Mr Silver. It’s dim and dusty and mysterious, filled with so many treasures and curiosities. I could spend days looking around!
What would you write in the Book of Wonders?
I’d have a library with every story ever written waiting on the shelves for me. But it would be a library with a twist: I’d be able to meet the characters from my favourite books face to face! Actually, on second thought, this might turn out to be dangerous – the bad guys would probably try to escape and take over the world!
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