Lettie Peppercorn lives in a house on stilts near the wind-swept coast of Albion. Nothing incredible has ever happened to her, until one winter's night.

The night the Snow Merchant comes.

He claims to be an alchemist - the greatest that ever lived - and in a mahogany suitcase, he carries his newest invention.

It is an invention that will change Lettie's life - and the world - forever.

It is an invention called snow.