Meet the author

Marlyn Spaaij.

Writer & illustrator · Netherlands

Marlyn Spaaij: a Dutch animator-turned-cartoonist whose debut graphic novel Sisters of the Mist wraps sibling love and the ache of growing up in eerie forest folklore.

Marlyn Spaaij is a Dutch storyboard artist, writer and director from the animation industry who made her graphic-novel debut with Sisters of the Mist. Drawing on her background in film, she tells a haunting, atmospheric coming-of-age story set at a grandmother's house on the edge of Frygea Forest, where nine-year-old Kyra watches her older sister Margot begin to change, lured towards the trees by the mythical Fog Furies who want to hurry her into growing up. To bring Margot safely home, Kyra must brave goblins, hellhounds and the spooky Furies themselves with only her littlest sister for company. Beautiful, funny and unsettling by turns, Spaaij's folklore-steeped debut captures something true about sibling love and the ache of watching someone you adore grow up faster than you. Best for 9-12s.