The Rainbow Gate — Freda Warrington

Which of the worlds was real? And where were the boundaries? As a child, Helen and her friend Rianna had wandered freely through Charnwood Forest into an enchanted otherworld of brightly-coloured creatures and strangely beautiful, charismatic people. Then Rianna moved away and the enchantment vanished. Now, 15 years later, she has returned suddenly, secretive and haunted. And soon Helen finds herself drawn back across those half-forgotten, ever-shifting boundaries between reality and fable. Drawn back into the twin lands of Tevera: the sun-bright, singing lands of the Chalcenians and the chill, sad underworld of the Domendrans.

Very different but connected worlds, their pull is growing stronger. An age-old conflict between the realms of light and darkness is breaking through into Helen's everyday world, dragging in her loved ones too. Wonder gives way to bewilderment and fright. As they come to understand the enigmatic people of Tevera, they realise that they must play their part in the conflict that will save or destroy our own world.