Quenby Olson

Miss Mildred Percy inherits a dragon. Ah, but we’ve already got ahead of ourselves… Miss Mildred Percy is a spinster. She does not dance, she has long stopped dreaming, and she certainly does not have adventures. That is, until her great uncle has the audacity to leave her an inheritance, one that includes a dragon’s egg. The egg - as eggs are wont to do - decides to hatch, and Miss Mildred Percy is suddenly thrust out of the role of “spinster and general wallflower” and into the unprecedented position of “spinster and keeper of dragons.” But England has not seen a dragon since… well, ever. And now Mildred must contend with raising a dragon (that should not exist), kindling a romance (with a humble vicar), and embarking on an adventure she never thought could be hers for the taking.

Miss Mildred Percy hérite d'un dragon. Mais peut-être allons-nous trop vite en besogne... Miss Mildred Percy appartient à la catégorie des vieilles filles : elle ne danse pas, a renoncé depuis longtemps à ses rêves et ne mène pas ce que l'on pourrait appeler une vie d'aventure. Du moins le pensait-elle, jusqu'au jour où son grand-oncle a l'audace de lui léguer, entre autres, un oeuf de dragon. Cet oeuf, comme la plupart des oeufs, a le bon goût d'éclore. Et c'est ainsi que, du jour au lendemain, Miss Mildred Percy passe du statut de tapisserie au rôle inouï d'éleveuse de dragons. Un dragon ? En Angleterre ? Voilà quelque chose que l'on n'a jamais vu. Pourtant Mildred va devoir jongler entre l'éducation de ce spécimen (qui n'est pas censé exister), la naissance d'une idylle (avec un modeste pasteur) et le début d'une aventure à laquelle jamais elle ne se serait crue destinée.

Dorothea Hawes has no wish to renew contact with what lies beyond the veil. After an attempt to take her own life, she has retired into seclusion, but as the wounds on her body heal, she is drawn back into a world she wants nothing more than to avoid. She is sought out by Julian Chissick, a former man of God who wants her help in discovering who is behind the gruesome murder of a young woman. But the manner of death is all too familiar to Dorothea, and she begins to fear that something even more terrible is about to unleash itself on London. And so Dorothea risks her life and her sanity in order to save people who are oblivious to the threat that hovers over them. It is a task that forces her into a confrontation with her own lurid past, and tests her ability to shape events frighteningly beyond her control.

First, there was a trunk. Inside the trunk was an egg, and inside the egg was… Well, it certainly was not a chicken. Miss Mildred Percy, former wallflower and current adventurer, is now in charge of a dragon. Along with Mr. Wiggan and Mrs. Babbinton — our stalwart companions from the first volume of Miss Percy’s adventures — she embarks on a journey across Wales, in search of the mysterious Nyth y Ddraig, or Nest of Dragons. But traveling with a young dragon in an unfamiliar land proves more difficult than anticipated. Between angry mobs, midnight rescues, and recalcitrant sheep, they battle (figuratively) their way across the countryside, defend themselves against enemies old and new, and discover something remarkable hidden in the mountains of Wales.