âIn this slow-simmering but rewarding retelling, first-novelist Bunce presents an innovative interpretation of Rumpelstiltskin.â âHorn Book
Winner of the William C. Morris Award for a Young Adult Debut
An ALA Best Book for Young Adults
A Smithsonian Notable Book
An Oprahâs Book Club Kidsâ Reading List Teen Selection
The gold thread promises Charlotte Miller a chance to save her familyâs beloved woolen mill. It promises a future for her sister, jobs for her townsfolk, security against her grasping uncleâmaybe even true love. To get the thread, Charlotte must strike a bargain with its maker, the mysterious Jack Spinner. But the gleam of gold conjures a shadowy pastâsecrets ensnaring generations of Millers. And Charlotteâs mill, her family, her loveâwhat do those matter to a stranger who can spin straw into gold? This is an award-winning and wholly original retelling of âRumplestiltskin.â
âSet in a rural valley in the late 1700s, this reworking of the âRumplestiltskinâ story includes ghosts, witchcraft, elements of Georgian society, and much earlier folk magic in the guise of a novel of manners.â âSchool Library Journal
âA Curse Dark as Gold beats the hell out of any fantasy novel Iâve read this year. Her heroine/narrator is immensely appealing; the atmosphere of a world on the cusp of the Industrial Revolution is completely believable; and the suspense of the story builds so craftily that I started taking notes on just how she does it.â âPeter S. Beagle, World Fantasy Award-winning author
âAn intelligent, original, and interesting new take on an old fairy tale, and a marvelous debut novel.â âTeen Book Review