Meggie is the daughter of a revered bookbinder called Mo whose peaceful existence is shattered by the arrival of Dustfinger - a shadowy man with a mysterious link to Mo's past Mo and Meggie are soon on the move, running from something that threatens everything they hold dear But the past inevitably catches up with them and Mo is forced to reveal to his daughter for the first time his terrible secret He has the ability, or curse, to breathe life into any story he reads and make the characters come alive Just such a character, the sinister Capricorn, is after Mo to ensure that he stays alive and is never returned to the pages from which he was sprung And, of course, he'll stop at nothing to guarantee success