What imaginative visitors to Stonehenge don’t wish away the turnstile and tour groups and envision themselves greeting the rising sun in some prehistoric dawn? Such a fantasy comes true for teenaged Holly, unwillingly sent from her Vancouver home to visit English relatives. When Holly plays her recorder in an ancient barn, she is swept back to England in 600 B.C., at a time when Celtic invaders are terrorizing the people near Stonehenge. Her four brief visits to the past are brought about by the magic of an ancient wizard, and Holly discovers that she is expected to save the threatened people. How she accepts her task, overcoming fear and utilizing her gifts, makes for an absorbing story. Through her time-travel, Holly also thaws her cousin’s hostility and uncovers a secret about her mother’s past that helps heal the rift between her parents.

Previously a non-fiction author, Findon uses Holly’s experiences to pass on information about ancient Britain. Her blend of heroic fantasy, historical fiction, and modern problem novel recalls O.R. Melling’s novels about legendary Ireland, though Findon’s use of magic is somewhat perfunctory and parts of the story seem contrived. Odd juxtapositions of past and present, fantasy and realistic contemporary detail, abound, as when the apprentice wizard makes some Celtic warriors temporarily deaf while Holly’s cousin cuts through the spokes of their chariot wheels with his battery-powered drill.