An inventive and playful fantasy-adventure about an abandoned girl, a friendly ogress and a terrible curse from the multi-award-winning and bestselling author of Dragon Skin and Lenny's Book of Everything. 'A fabulous magical quest, strange and wonderful.' Judith Rossell, bestselling author of The Midwatch Lavender Wolfe is a clapperdudgeon, pickpurse and all alone on a wharf when she is snatched by Big Agatha and thrown into the galley of a pirate ship, The Good Marchioness. Disguised as a boy (for only boys may live in the galley) and renamed Hans Whitby, Lavender has to make her home among the kitchen rats. However, The Good Marchioness is no ordinary ship. Captained by Odyessia Pleasant, a fierce pirate with long blonde hair, violet eyes and a bird's wing in the place of an arm, the crew are on a desperate voyage - to find and return stolen treasure before all those who sail within the cursed pirate ship are turned to sand. Lavender included. Lavender is quick-witted and sharp as a tack, and as her magic starts to be revealed she finds herself coming under the arresting gaze of Captain Pleasant. Will Lavender help break the curse? Or will she be just another victim of this story within a story within a story, her true identity lost to the sands of time? An adventure as big as the ocean and as warm as your heart. All aboard! 'A teaspoon of skullduggery, a hearty dollop of swashbuckling and a barrelful of heart ... This magical tale will make any young landlubber long for adventure at sea.' Reece Carter, bestselling author of A Girl Called Corpse 'Exquisite. A marvel of imagination and adventure.' Jaclyn Moriarty, award-winning author of the Kingdoms and Empires series 'Bold, original and gloriously fantastical.' Lian Tanner, award-winning author of Spellhound