Top 5 stories inspired by stone circles, chosen by YA author Liz Hyder

Writer and creative workshop leader Liz Hyder’s new book for young adults, The Twelve, is a coming-of-age story featuring stone circles. Here are her picks of stories featuring the mysterious monuments.

Children of the Stones by Jeremy Burnham and Trevor Ray

This atmospheric 1970s children’s TV series is set in a village within a stone circle in a rift in time. It’s weirdly creepy and you’ll never again hear the words “happy day” without shivering.

Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

Stonehenge looms large in Hardy’s classic as Tess and Angel, her lover, spend the night at the famous site before Tess is arrested for murder. There’s a beautifully charged moment in which Angel and Tess listen to the sounds of a breeze blowing through the site, whistling between the stones. 

Circles of Stone: Weird Tales of Pagan Sites and Ancient Rites edited by Katy Soar

Part of the British Library’s brilliant Tales of the Weird series. This excellent collection gathers together short, peculiar and often haunting stories inspired by ancient sites. 

Elidor by Alan Garner 

This strange, wondrous book by one of our finest writers sees young Roland travel into the realm of Elidor to rescue his brothers and sister but, in order to do so, he must battle the living stone circle in which the darkness lives. 

The Stone Circle by Elly Griffiths 

Part of Griffiths’s Dr Ruth Galloway series, this cracking page-turner sees the bones of a girl, a missing case from 30 years ago, discovered during a dig at an old henge. The journey to the truth links back to a past case with devastating consequences. 

The Twelve by Liz Hyder, illustrated by Tom de Freston, is out now (Pushkin Press, £14.99).You can buy these titles from The Big Issue shop on Bookshop.org, which helps to support The Big Issue and independent bookshops.

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