Published two years after the conclusion of Roy J. Snell’s earlier novel ‘The Blue Envelope’ we re-join the plucky Marian in ‘The Purple Flame’ as she and her cousin Patsy work together to care for the family reindeer herd after Marian’s father was taken ill. The girls are faced with a range of challenges – from blizzards to poachers, and hungry wolves to treacherous mountain passes, and must overcome them all in order to survive.