About the Author

Aubrey Flegg was born in Dublin. His early childhood was spent in County Sligo, Ireland. He went to school in Dublin and later in England. After a spell with a mountain rescue team in Scotland, he returned to Ireland to study geology at Trinity College. He then did geological research in Kenya, before joining the Geological Survey of Ireland in 1968. Aubrey recently took early retirement in order to concentrate on writing.

His first book, Katie's War, is about the civil war period in Ireland; it was published in 1997. Katie's War has recently won the Peter Pan Award 2000 -- an award created by IBBY Sweden for a children's book, translated into Swedish, which gives information on another culture.

Wings Over Delft, the first book in the Louise trilogy, won the Bisto Book of the Year overall award in 2004.

Reviews

'Yola's adventures in Africa and Ireland read like a thriller - there's just so much going on in this beautifully written story.'
*RTE Guide*

'Aubrey Flegg, who recently won the Peter Pan Prize 2000 for his first book, Katie's War, has again come up with a very likeable heroine in The Cinnamon Tree.'
*The Irish Times*

'A thought-provoking book which addresses the issue of illegal arms trading with the West, and also demonstrates how adversity can lead to empowerment.'
*Book Fest 2000*

'This powerful story, set largely in a fictional Africal state resembling Angola, takes a strong anti-war stance. From a dramatic opening chapter in which 14-year-old Yola loses her leg in a landmine explosion, through to the tense final pages ... It tackles difficult and complex issues with unflinching rigour. Characters and readers alike are forced to examine the attitude of supposedly peaceful nations and individuals to the arms trade, ineluctably drawn to the conclusion that it is not enough for good men to do nothing.'
*The Guardian*