Published: March 2015
240 pages
Available as Paperback
Category: Children
Magic exists beneath our feet, if we only know where to look ... Growing up in a New York orphanage, Ayla has no idea she has Irish roots. It is not until she comes to Ireland that she finds out just how deep her roots really are...
Magic exists beneath our feet, if we only know where to look ...Growing up in a New York orphanage, Ayla has no idea who her family is. It is not until she comes to Ireland that she finds out just how deep her roots really are. Then her past rises up to haunt her and seeks to destroy her as Ayla is abducted and buried alive in the bowels of the earth. Above ground, her three best friends set out to find and save her from a fate that has been lying in wait for centuries. Guided by Ayla's uncles, they must make a treacherous journey that takes them down among the very roots of time.
mightily impressive -- Evening Echo Matt Griffin's fantasy creation ... lies at the very darkest edge of fairy tale ... It is a place not of nursery story but of nightmare, not of Tir Na Nog, but of an 'other' magical pre Ireland where life literally withers away after forbidden return. Yet his creation and his narrative are all the more resonant and potent, and indeed all the more terrifying, for their link to the tropes and archetypes of ancient tales. One of the particular strengths of Matt Griffin's narrative is placing within this dark fairy tale context a quartet of young protagonists who are fully contemporary in their language and outlook. They are every inch kids of today, clever, lippy, streetwise. These are certainly no Pevensie children, stumbling with wide eyed wonder into Narnia ... [A] Cage of Roots [is] a gripping and powerful read, a potent and imaginative refreshing of many of the tropes and themes of great children's fantasy - with more than a touch of darkness thrillingly added. And of course that wonderful whack of Irishness. Matt Griffin uses very effectively ... some of the classic fiction techniques: starting in mid action, int