The Life of Elves

To read this book, you need to have a lot of patience with not knowing what's going on. There is some sort of epic battle going on between elves, their human allies, and another unnamed but evil force. Two little girls with mysterious pasts, Maria in France and Clara in Italy, are key to the outcome of this battle. As the story progresses, we learn a little more about who these girls are and why they are so important, but we don't learn all that much about who the enemy is and what's at stake. It's a testament to the beauty of the writing and characterization that I still cared about the outcome of the story.

I've read that this is the first book of a proposed trilogy. I doubt I'll read the next installment.