For young scribe Caitrin it is a safe haven. This place where nobody else is prepared to go seems exactly what she needs, for Caitrin is fleeing her own demons. As Caitrin comes to know Anluan and his home in more depth she realizes that it is only through her love and determination that the curse can be broken and Anluan and his people set free.

Set in Ireland during the twelfth-century Norman invasion, Marillier’s outstanding fantasy is a Beauty and the Beast tale with gothic sensibilities. Fleeing an abusive suitor, Caitrin arrives in Whistling Tor penniless and uncertain of her future. She becomes a scribe for the chieftain Anluan, who lives in a neglected hilltop fortress, but the job has perils rivaling her own. Mercurial and physically crippled, Anluan is beset by revenants, thanks to an ancestral curse.

Those otherworldly forces wish only rest, but a whispering voice drives them to violence whenever Anluan leaves the hill. Caitrin believes that the secret to breaking the curse lies in the family records. Though her presence brings much needed hope and love to Anluan, it also puts them in danger. Caitrin and Anluan are a dynamic couple. No longer willing to be passive victims, they struggle to overcome the past and make their destinies.