What would happen if words disappeared forever?

An engaging and important middle-grade fantasy about the importance of language, and the need to defend it.

"Please was the first word to die and with it, good manners were gone and, out of the blue, everybody began to forget how to be polite. Then promise was killed and instantly people found it hard to remember the importance of commitments and pledges…”

Set in the whimsical town of Inkwell, a place with an ancient secret history, this fairytale-like adventure uncovers the key to the power hidden within words. 'The Word-Keeper' is the tale of a savvy bookmark named Ben that unwillingly becomes an evil imp with only one objective: destroy the words that live inside books.

Only one girl can stop him. Her name is Florence Ibbot. She is eleven years old, oddly eloquent and a quiet observer of the world. But above all, Florence is a keen logophile and is willing to sacrifice everything to protect the words.

She sets out to discover who is behind all this. The journey will take her to the origins of writing and inspiration. But she’ll also have to face the most treacherous adversary, Zyler, a ruthless sorceress whose sole mission is to ruin one of humankind’s most precious possessions: the gift of language. As the final battle approaches, Florence will have to learn how to wield words instead of the sword. Is Florence brave enough to become who she was born to be?

About the Author

VERONICA DEL VALLE is a journalist and creative writing teacher living in Buenos Aires. She grew up in Argentina but lived in London for many years. In London, she earned her MA in creative writing at Kingston University, studied Creative Writing with Elise Valmorbida at Central Saint Martins and worked as a communications consultant, journalist and editor. Veronica always had a fondness for words, language and the magic of storytelling, which is why, when she came to writing her first novel, it had to be about the importance of books.