A magical novella from Hilary McKay, award-winning author of the Casson Family Chronicles and The Skylarks' War.

'A star-filled story of courage, belonging and the particular magic of feline friends. A treasure of a tale, beautifully told.' - A.F. Steadman, NYT-bestselling author of the Skandar series

From the Costa Award-winning author of The Skylarks' War, comes the story of a young girl looking for magic in the world, and the feline family who help her to find it. With gorgeous black and white illustrations by Keith Robinson.

Rosa lives in a world where she discovers there is magic. It arrives with Balthazar, a large black cat, just when she needs it most. Even so, it takes all her courage to stay hopeful and adventurous when her dreadful aunt and uncle move into her life.

And when she finds herself abandoned in the ancient city of Venice, can magic help her then? Perhaps it can.

The stars are watching, and there are lots of cats in Venice . . .

'Beautiful, captivating, such a joy to read I didn't want it to end!' - Sophie Anderson, bestselling author of The House with Chicken Legs and The Snow Girl

'A charming Ghibli-esque tale of a girl whose only friends are cats. Surprising and magical in equal measures.' - M. G. Leonard, bestselling author of The Adventure on Trains Series, The Twitchers series, and The Ice Children


_{*Hilary McKay won the Costa Children's Book Award in 2018 with The Skylarks' War}