A Face Like Glass

"the most enjoyable children's book of the year so far" Sunday Times "This unusual and highly imaginative fantasy from Frances Hardinge is spellbinding: sophisticated, multi-layered and elegantly written." Booktrust "Weird and wonderful." Evening Standard "It would be hard to imagine any book by Frances Hardinge being anything but excellent." Bookbag "I loved this book! ...Face Like Glass: it's a sweet little onion of a story -- layer on layer of plot, and characters, and realisations" British Fantasy Society In the underground city of Caverna the world's most skilled craftsmen toil in the darkness to create delicacies beyond compare - wines that can remove memories, cheeses that can make you hallucinate and perfumes that convince you to trust the wearer, even as they slit your throat. The people of Caverna are more ordinary, but for one thing: their faces are as blank as untouched snow. Expressions must be learned, and only the famous Facesmiths can teach a person to show (or fake) joy, despair or fear - at a price.

Into this dark and distrustful world comes Neverfell, a little girl with no memory of her past and a face so terrifying to those around her that she must wear a mask at all times. For Neverfell's emotions are as obvious on her face as those of the most skilled Facesmiths, though entirely genuine. And that makes her very dangerous indeed ...