An epic battle between psychological manipulation and natural magic unfolds as Perjos, the world's greatest magician, returns to the Blank Slate Boarding House for Creatives to settle old scores. The house's newest servant, Emily Turner, must resist the magician's powers alone after her only friend disappears, leaving her to face Perjos as he destroys the lives of the the artists who stay at the Blank Slate. The one person left to help Emily stop Perjos is Old Ted who lives in the forest, but his world - and our world - is forever changed by a tree plague that devastates the forests. The Blank Slate welcomes believers and skeptics alike in this dark and richly layered tale of historical-magical realism, inviting the question and "What is Magic and What is Reality? and "