""A fairy tale in the oldest and truest sense: a haunting dream full of blood and love, vicious truths and beautiful lies. It swallowed me whole, and I went willingly."" — Alix E. Harrow, New York Times bestselling author of Starling House
"Decadence laced with horror . . . A delightfully meta fairy tale . . . Magic emanates from every exquisitely crafted sentence." — Charlie Jane Anders, Washington Post
In the tradition of sumptuous gothic novels like Starling House and The Bloody Chamber comes a dark fairy tale-infused story about a cursed friendship and a marriage steeped in secrets—the breathtaking adult debut from New York Times bestselling author Roshani Chokshi.
Once upon a time, a man who believed in fairy tales married a beautiful, mysterious woman named Indigo Maxwell-Casteñada. He was a scholar of myths. She was an heiress. In exchange for her love, Indigo extracted a promise: that her bridegroom would never pry into her past.
But when the couple returns to Indigo's childhood home, the House of Dreams, the bridegroom will soon find himself unable to resist. For within the crumbling manor's extravagant rooms lurks the shadow of another girl: Azure, Indigo's dearest childhood friend, who suddenly disappeared. As the house slowly reveals his wife's secrets, the bridegroom will be forced to choose between reality and fantasy, even if doing so threatens to destroy their marriage . . . or their lives.
Through a tapestry of secrets woven around dangerous shards of truth, Chokshi crafts an atmospheric fever dream of a novel about love and lies, secrets and betrayal, and the stories we tell ourselves to survive.
""Chokshi's tale is as sweet as a piece of fairy fruit, and just as wicked. Every bite is velvet, every swallow is gold, and the taste lingers like a fever dream."" — V. E. Schwab, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
""Gorgeous and ornate, this sensual fairy tale illuminates the corrosive and redemptive power of both love and lies."" — Holly Black, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Book of Night
""A fairy tale in the oldest and truest sense: a haunting dream full of blood and love, vicious truths and beautiful lies. It swallowed me whole, and I went willingly."" — Alix E. Harrow, New York Times bestselling author of Starling House
"Decadence laced with horror . . . A delightfully meta fairy tale . . . Magic emanates from every exquisitely crafted sentence." — Charlie Jane Anders, Washington Post
In the tradition of sumptuous gothic novels like Starling House and The Bloody Chamber comes a dark fairy tale-infused story about a cursed friendship and a marriage steeped in secrets—the breathtaking adult debut from New York Times bestselling author Roshani Chokshi.
Once upon a time, a man who believed in fairy tales married a beautiful, mysterious woman named Indigo Maxwell-Casteñada. He was a scholar of myths. She was an heiress. In exchange for her love, Indigo extracted a promise: that her bridegroom would never pry into her past.
But when the couple returns to Indigo's childhood home, the House of Dreams, the bridegroom will soon find himself unable to resist. For within the crumbling manor's extravagant rooms lurks the shadow of another girl: Azure, Indigo's dearest childhood friend, who suddenly disappeared. As the house slowly reveals his wife's secrets, the bridegroom will be forced to choose between reality and fantasy, even if doing so threatens to destroy their marriage . . . or their lives.
Through a tapestry of secrets woven around dangerous shards of truth, Chokshi crafts an atmospheric fever dream of a novel about love and lies, secrets and betrayal, and the stories we tell ourselves to survive.
""Chokshi's tale is as sweet as a piece of fairy fruit, and just as wicked. Every bite is velvet, every swallow is gold, and the taste lingers like a fever dream."" — V. E. Schwab, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
""Gorgeous and ornate, this sensual fairy tale illuminates the corrosive and redemptive power of both love and lies."" — Holly Black, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Book of Night
Critiques-
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November 7, 2022
Bestseller Chokshi (best known for the YA novel The Gilded Wolves) makes her adult debut with a lush and haunting modern fairy tale about the nature of friendship and love. Indigo Maxwell-Casteñada, the heiress to a fortune, wants for nothing but love. She finds it in the unnamed narrator, a man who embraces all things mysterious and unexplained. Their marriage is built on sharing fairy stories, playing fantastical games, and maintaining a no questions asked policy about Indigo’s past. But when Indigo’s dying aunt and onetime guardian forces them to return to the House of Dreams, Indigo’s childhood home, secrets bubble to the surface. The ghost of Indigo’s childhood best friend clings to the House of Dreams and begs to be acknowledged. Soon fantasy and reality blur, testing the strength of the couple’s love, and even threatening their lives. Chokshi’s prose overflows with metaphor and lavish imagery, adding to the decadent, gothic feel as the mystery of Indigo’s past intensifies. The result is equal parts dizzying, dazzling, and foreboding. Agent: Thao Le, Sandra Dijkstra Literary. -
Narrators Steve West and Sura Siu capture the atmospheric tone of this haunting gothic romance. An unnamed bridegroom weds mysterious Indigo Maxwell-Caste�ada. When her aunt becomes ill, they travel to Indigo's childhood home, the House of Dreams. There, the bridegroom learns about Indigo's childhood best friend, Azure. Chapters alternate between the bridegroom in the present, voiced by West, and Azure in the past, voiced by Siu. As secrets about Azure and Indigo's relationship and Azure's disappearance slowly unravel, reality and fantasy become blurred. West shines in his performance, commanding scenes with his deep, smooth British-accented delivery. This creates an interesting contrast with Siu's higher pitch and sharp tone. The performances and lush writing create an enchanting listening experience. V.T.M. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
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May 1, 2023
YA author Chokshi's (Aru Shah and the Nectar of Immortality) intoxicating adult debut explores the shifting boundaries between fantasy and reality. A fairy-tale scholar known only as "the bridegroom" falls under the spell of the enigmatic, wealthy Indigo Maxwell-Caste�ada; when they marry, Indigo requests that he never ask about her past. However, when Indigo is called back to her opulent but unsettling childhood home, her long-held secrets come to light, and soon the bridegroom realizes that he might not know his wife at all. Narrators Steve West and Sura Siu alternate telling the tale, with West giving voice to the bridegroom and Siu speaking for Azure, Indigo's childhood best friend. West's deeply resonant voice is a seductive complement to Chokshi's lush, poetic language and brings out the novel's air of foreboding and menace. Siu's performance is mixed, however. She expressively captures Azure's transformation from naive girl to determined woman, but scattered mispronunciations, inconsistent character voices, and sibilance in the narration sometimes detract from the whole. VERDICT Despite some flaws, listeners will be caught up in Chokshi's haunting, sensual world. An excellent fit for fans of Diane Setterfield's Once Upon a River or Kate Morton's The Clockmaker's Daughter.--Sarah Hashimoto
Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
