Fans of Sinéad O’Hart’s acclaimed debut The Eye of the North will be thrilled to see a new adventure arriving on the shelves so swiftly. The new book, The Star-Spun Web shares the high spirit of adventure, a captivating cast of characters and a determined, scientifically-minded female lead, but is in itself a wholly original storyline – one that is enthralling, intelligent and magical, hitting all the right notes and more for the kind of book I find just brilliant to read. The story is based around the premise of parallel worlds with infinite possibilities, and features a group of pioneering scientists in the first half of the Twentieth Century working on theories about communicating and travelling between different worlds. The main character, Tess de Sousa, is a plucky young orphan with a pet tarantula called Violet. Tess was left at Ackerbee’s Home for Lost and Foundlings as a baby, along with a mysterious device called a Starspinner that may provide the only clues about her family…