A magnificent debut full of wit and humour from a one-time stand-up comedian. If you were to put a kingdom beyond the world, Manhatten, a goddess-in-training and a pet vulture you wouldn’t think there would be a story to be told. Well you’d be wrong. Amanda Lees has drawn these supposed disparate elements together into something that really has more than a little something. It’s wild, it’s wacky, it’s frightening and full of adventure. It’s an unmissable treat and the first in the Kumari trilogy. See also: Kumari: Goddess of Secrets and Kumari: Goddess of Destiny
Kumari is a goddess-in-training who lives in a secret valley kingdom. She is destined to stay young forever, unlike people in the World Beyond. But Kumari longs to break out of her closeted life at the Palace, where her only real friend is a baby vulture, and there's nothing to think about, except the mystery of her mother's death.
Amanda Lees was born in Hong Kong of British parents and survived both a convent boarding school and subsequent incarceration at a Jesuit boy's school.
A onetime stand-up comedian, she teaches presentation skills to authors and conducts workshops on story and dramatic form for children and is also now a successful author, actress and broadcaster.
She has lived all over the world and now resides in London.
