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Department of English Language and Literature

Riverborne

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

Twelve-year-old Ghost lives in Riverborne, an isolated village in the borderlands. Raised by the wood witch Maeve from birth, he grows up with only a dog for company. The villagers mistrust Ghost, because of the pale features that gave him his name. These mark him as Were – one of the wild clansmen that inhabit the lands to the north. But his Were blood is also a gift – granting him the ability to sense the essence of living things. Maeve’s other apprentice is her niece, Nella. After her mother dies, Nella comes to live at the cottage to escape her alcoholic father. When Maeve is called away one rainy night, Nella decides to make a “telling fire” - a binding to glimpse the future. However, something goes horribly wrong and they wake a slumbering evil in the woods. When villagers begin to die under unnatural circumstances, people suspect Maeve. The witch believes a spirit is behind the attacks, as it is powers beyond anything she has seen before. She tells Nella and Ghost of a bone witch in the Wild Wood, who knows how to put the dead to rest. When Maeve is seized by the village mob, Ghost and Nella manage to escape. Together they must find the bone witch to help vanquish the spirit and free Maeve.

Degree

thesis:*
Grantor
Department of English Language and Literature
Year dc:date.issued
2018

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Parker, Ruby
Advisor dc:contributor.advisor
  • Partridge, Sally

Subjects

dc:subject × 1

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Handle dc:identifier.uri
http://hdl.handle.net/11427/30946
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/30946

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
University of Cape Town
Base URL
open.uct.ac.za/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Parker, Ruby. Riverborne. Department of English Language and Literature, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/30946