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Virginia King
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Leaving Birds: Magic. Murder. A ghost or two. (The Secrets of Selkie Moon Mystery Series) Kindle Edition

by Virginia King (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.6 out of 5 stars 9 ratings
Murder. Magic. A ghost or two.

Three spooky adult tales inspired by folklore:

Once deep in a forest there lived a strange and magical woman. She had no mother or father, and no-one knew how she came to live alone in the crude hut she called home. But in their dreams, the local men were haunted by her beautiful presence for she had long hair that reached to her waist, the colour of spun gold. They called her Gilda.
"The Woman with Hair of Gold", retold from a Russian folktale.

It was when I was suddenly awake that I realised I’d been dead to the world. What had woken me? A noise? The darkness was complete, and as I lay there straining my ears I had the strongest sense that something was in the room with me. Surely I could hear breathing, or was it just my own ragged breath? Then a weight landed on my legs and I almost cried out.
"Peig’s Place", a modern ghost story reimagined from an Irish folktale.

He pierced her body till the blood it did flow,
Then into the grave her body did throw.
He covered her body, then home he did run,
Leaving none but birds her death to mourn
"Polly’s Folly", sleuthing out the clues to the possibly true crime behind a traditional English murder ballad.

If you like to peek behind the scenes of books and how they're written, Leaving Birds is also a companion to Laying Ghosts, the prequel to the Selkie Moon Mystery Series, with insights into how the folktales inspired the prequel.

Discover the chilling power of folklore with Leaving Birds.
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  1. Print length
    56 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    September 12, 2017
  4. File size
    1.4 MB
  5. Page Flip
    Enabled
  6. Word Wise
    Enabled
  7. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B075LQKVPT
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Celestial Hedgehog Pty Ltd (September 12, 2017)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 12, 2017
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1.4 MB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 56 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 out of 5 stars 9 ratings

About the author

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Virginia King

Virginia King

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VIRGINIA KING has lived most of her life in Sydney, but has travelled to many places. Her books blend her love of mystery, travel and psychology with dashes of folklore in a fast-paced style.

Virginia has been a teacher, an unemployed ex-teacher, an audio-book producer, the author of over 50 childrenʼs books, a workshop presenter and an award-winning publisher. These days she’s a full-time writer who paints a bit, living in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney with her husband, three pet alpacas and four chickens.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
9 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Holly.
    5.0 out of 5 stars Leaving Birds is perfect for readers who like folktore or dark fairytales retold.
    Reviewed in the United States on September 24, 2017
    My Review

    of

    Leaving Birds by Virginia King.

    I really enjoyed reading the collection of folklore tales in Leaving Birds. I really loved the story Peig’s Place because it was spooky but emotional and some of the scenes with Peig in them were well described. Overall, all of the stories were interesting and gripping to read.

    The book itself contained three stories called The Woman with Hair of Gold, Peig’s Place, Polly’s Folly and an article called Serendipity Rules.

    The Woman with Hair of Gold

    This story is about Gilder, a mysterious woman with long golden hair that men admire. But one night one of her admirers comes to her home to ask for her hand in marriage. However, upon her refusal and the gift she bestowed on him he storms out of her home. Will he be back to try his luck again? Or seek revenge because she turned him away? Read this book to find out.

    This is a dark but interesting short story and in some way reminded me of how a dark modern day Rapunzels could have been told. Gilder is a very interesting character with enchanting hair. She’s easy to imagine while reading this story. I think if you like dark modern fairytales retold you would very much enjoy this story.

    Peig’s Place

    Faith and Minnie were going on holiday together, take a break from work. However, Faith ends up holidaying alone in an old house. She’s given a key that doesn’t work and told Peig might visit. However, while in the house she starts to hear things. Is this a supernatural energy? Or just a trick of her mind? Read this story to find out.

    I loved the author’s use of description and emotion throughout this story, especially when it came to Peig. This was one of my favourites.

    Polly Folly

    Polly Folly, is the song that tells a story about: What happened to Polly? This is explained and is very interesting to read about. I had to look up the song after to hear it. It does give you shivers when you listen to it being sung.

    I loved that Virginia explains after every story where her inspiration came from and how this linked to her other books. I could really see her passion for folklore shine through and how much work she does to research the topic, so her stories give readers a real sense of the subject.

    If you like dark or retold fairytale or folklore from way back when then you will love this collection of dark tale.
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  • Steph Warren
    4.0 out of 5 stars A nice companion novel to Laying Ghosts
    Reviewed in the United States on October 22, 2017
    *I received a free ARC of this book. The decision to review and my opinions are my own.*

    Leaving Birds comprises three short stories, along with an author commentary for each. The stories are linked with the Selkie Moon prequel short story Laying Ghosts (my review here) in terms of theme and content, and provide additional context for the inspiration behind that story.

    As such these stories, whilst well-written, form more of a companion volume than a stand-alone book, and I would recommend reading Laying Ghosts first, as there are some minor spoilers here. Effectively this book is like the bonus features bit of a DVD.

    The stories themselves are varied.

    The first ‘The Woman with Hair of Gold’ is a traditional folklore legend about a vulnerable woman with magical properties and her unfortunate fate. This is quite a short tale and simply told in the familiar ‘Once upon a time’ style.

    Once deep in a forest there lived a strange and magical woman. She had no mother or father, and no-one knew how she came to live alone in the crude hut she called home. But in their dreams, the local men were haunted by her beautiful presence for she had long hair that reached to her waist, the colour of spun gold. They called her Gilda.
    – Virginia King, “The Woman with Hair of Gold”, retold from a Russian folktale.

    ‘Peig’s Place’ is also a folklore tale, but more of a modern one with a dash of romance thrown in amongst the ghosts. This was my personal favourite, as it was a rounded story in its own right, with developed characters, and gave me a taste of Virginia King’s storytelling voice which I had already enjoyed in my previous sample.

    It was when I was suddenly awake that I realised I’d been dead to the world. What had woken me? A noise? The darkness was complete, and as I lay there straining my ears I had the strongest sense that something was in the room with me. Surely I could hear breathing, or was it just my own ragged breath? Then a weight landed on my legs and I almost cried out.
    – Virginia King, “Peig’s Place”, a modern ghost story reimagined from an Irish folktale.

    Finally there is a recounting of the folk ballad that inspired and featured in Laying Ghosts, with some narrative from the author about the basis and truth of the events in historical fact. This was not strictly speaking a ‘story’, but I did find it interesting to discover that the legendary ‘done wrong by her lover’ ballad could have roots in real events.

    He pierced her body till the blood it did flow,
    Then into the grave her body did throw.
    He covered her body, then home he did run,
    Leaving none but birds her death to mourn
    – Virginia King, “Polly’s Folly”, sleuthing out the clues to the possibly true crime behind a traditional English murder ballad.

    All-in-all this is, as I said, a nice companion piece to Laying Ghosts for those interested in the genesis of folktales and the variations in their recounting. I don’t feel that it stands alone as a novel without the relevant story for context, and therefore strongly recommend that this comes after Laying Ghosts, for readers who want to delve into that tale in greater depth.
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  • Diana Johnson
    5.0 out of 5 stars Virginia King has created another 5 star read in Leaving Birds!
    Reviewed in the United States on November 14, 2017
    Leaving Birds is a collection of folktales, with a possibly true-to-life ballad included, and can be read as a stand alone book although I highly recommend reading it as a companion to Virginia King's Laying Ghosts which is available free on her website at selkiemoon or any Amazon website.

    I loved the stories included in Leaving Birds. It was exciting to read more stories in the Folklore genre, as I'd never heard or read anything like these stories previously I hadn't realized how I could be so drawn to the stories themselves, definitely something I intend to explore more of! I was also fascinated that at each story's ending the author explains her own interpretation to the story as well as how she found different events she then layered into her own writing. Truly gripping to have the opportunity as a reader to have a glimpse into the process of writing, I loved reading how each individual story line connected in some way to Selkie and in particular Laying Ghosts.

    Laying Ghosts is the prequel and introduction to the Selkie Moon series, if you haven't read the series I highly recommend it as a fast paced and gripping read as you journey through Selkie's latest mystery, encountering suspense and unusual paranormal events with an ending you never see coming!

    I was pleased to receive an arc from Virginia King and chose to give an honest review.
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  • Kandy
    4.0 out of 5 stars A companion to the Selkie Moon series
    Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2019
    Very interesting book of short stories. After each one the author explains how it fits in with the Selkie Moon series.
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