Death runs through this novel: the death of Penny's little sister in a terrible accident, the death of Freya's dad and her tiny sister Pansy. Finally, there is the death of Freya's great gran, the Romany gypsy who has handed down to Freya all her magic secrets. In the end all these deaths are seen as matter of hope, but not before Freya has combined her Romany gifts with Christian symbolism. Penny has reacted to her sister Katya's tragic death by becoming mute and by rejecting her mother. Freya is called in by foster parents who are looking after Penny to help, and she, along with her friend Mary, does her best, but Penny is unresponsive, almost catatonic. In a mystical ceremony Freya binds herself to Penny, who is then willing to be with her constantly, but still shows no sign of speaking. During the baptism of a baby in the local church, Freya and Mary take some holy water, which, during an overnight vigil in the church, shows the three girls a vision of gran and the two babies happy together in the 'happy place'. Put baldly, the story sounds fey - and is. But it also has great strength in Freya, the Chime Child, born at 12.00 on Good Friday and, therefore, given special powers. Love and hope abound, and though the style is lyrically poetic, there is much wisdom too. Freya's Romany-speak takes some getting used to - 'full-heart happy, tongue-tease, tremble-tight button-lipped' etc. Chapter 12 is particularly moving when Freya paints a picture of her dad and baby Pansy while telling Penny about her own family tragedy and convinces Penny to paint Katya into the picture too. Highly imaginative.