Book excerpt: A group of children, a philosopher and a merman fight to save a bewitched island. Finding their spiritual home on a remote island threatened by a new hotel, two groups of somewhat misanthropic children have no choice but to fight to save it. Intuitive imagination and dogged curiosity unlock ‘marginal lands’ which lie beyond the reach of mere adults. In worrying adversity, they face and meet strange individuals and get caught up in surreal and bizarre happenings. Help comes from a laid-back American philosopher/painter who lives in an unearthly shack in the woods, and a merman who seems to have emerged from the deep. Increasingly alienated by darkening forces and adult greed, will the children manage to retain enough natural strength, naivety and good humour to see them through their adventures? Illustrated throughout by the author.