I really enjoyed this story.

‘Beneath the Mother Tree’ is the story of Ayla, returned back to her island home after a year on the Australian mainland at University. Summer has been it’s usual, but now two newcomers have moved onto the island, Riley and his mother Marlise, a strange woman who prefers to keep to herself, and is struggling with giving her now adult son his independence.

Ayla and Riley are attracted to each other, but Ayla’s Grandfather, known as ‘Grappa’ is convinced that Riley is Far Dorocha, a dark servant of the Queen of Faery, and his mother might be the Queen herself. Raised on his grandmother’s tales from her homeland of Ireland, Grappa has no doubt that these beings exist, and does everything in his power to keep Ayla seperate and safe from these dark beings.

This is such a fascinating and unique Australian story.