Dark Gold

Do your like fairy tales? Not just the "happily-ever-after" type, but stories about hidden and magical worlds? I guess, like me, a lot of people do! Look at how popular the Harry Potter series is!!! It's a kind of fairy tale, right?

So I've kept my eye out for fairy tale books and this is what I've found - Elizabeth C. Bunce's A Curse Dark As Gold! Ooooo! Sounds scary! But what got me hooked is that it's a re-telling of that old familiar fairy tale - Rumpelstiltskin! You know the one about the secretive fairy that spins a room-full of gold and asks for a priceless payment and only the quick wit of the heroine saves her in the end? In Bunce's suspenseful version, we get to meet Charlotte Miller, the "miller's daughter" in the fairy tale, and almost understand why she risks everything to save what she holds dear. We also meet Jack Spinner, the dark fairy in the tale, and almost understand his shadowed story! All that is set against a vivid description of a time gone by when water mills still spun cloth!

It's a bit of a difficult read but worth the time and effort. After all this is the first Morris Debut Award Winner for first-time authors writing for teens! So let A Curse Dark As Gold weave a little fairy magic as summer turns to autumn! It's dark gold!