The Ledgerborne series by E. R. Ashwell

Welcome to Hollow.

A city of small lives and consequential choices.

Explore the cityMeet its citizens

Every life has a story.

Discover the city through the animals who call it home.

Meet all the citizens

Every life has a story.

Discover the city through the animals who call it home.

  • Mallow Fenn, a young brown mouse in a green coat and grey scarf, holds his blue notebook by the river below the city.

    Mallow Fenn

    The mouse clerk

    Observant, methodical and quietly ambitious, Mallow checks Hollow’s figures at the Weighhouse and notices what others miss.

    Meet Mallow
  • Tansy Moor, a vole in a leather apron and gauntlets, holds a glowing glass gather on an iron pipe beside a furnace.

    Tansy Moor

    The vole glassblower

    Quick paws and a quicker wit. Tansy turns bowls and lamp cups at the Kilnworks furnace, and says exactly what she thinks.

    Meet Tansy
  • Agathe Brock, an elderly badger in a worn green coat and scarf, holds the ferry’s hand-wheel by the river.

    Agathe Brock

    The badger ferrykeeper

    A steady pull across the river. Agathe keeps the Lower Ferry moving between the Floor and Lowbank, two coppers each way.

    Meet Agathe

About the book

In Hollow, the
Ledger recommends. It never requires.

For Mallow Fenn, a young mouse clerk, its latest recommendation promises the life he has always wanted: an apprenticeship in the Archive above the city.

Then he discovers a recommendation that will leave its recipient worse off. Certain someone should know, Mallow makes the figures public, and learns how much harm a true fact can do.

As autumn slips toward winter, his search draws him into family secrets, a friend’s wounded ambition, and a ferrykeeper’s costly choice. Before his own answer is due, Mallow must decide whether the life he wants can still belong to him if something else chose it first.

The Ledger of Hollow is a thoughtful animal fantasy about kindness, consequence, and the uneasy freedom of choosing for yourself.

Read the opening chapterBuy the book

A letter has arrived.

“Take the Reader’s apprenticeship at the Archive, beginning on the first day of winter.”

Mallow’s recommendation, Chapter 1

How the Ledger works
Cover of The Ledger of Hollow by E. R. Ashwell: a mouse in a green coat stands on ivy-covered steps above a lamplit river city at dusk.

Begin with The Ledger of Hollow

Book One of the Ledgerborne series

A literary fantasy for adults, alive with dry humor, river lanterns, and the daily work of an animal city.

Buy the bookRead an excerpt

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The author

E. R. Ashwell

E. R. Ashwell is the author of The Ledger of Hollow, a literary fantasy for adults about work, belonging, and the freedom to choose a life of one's own.