The Kingdom of Little Wounds
03 September 2015Synopsis
A young seamstress and a royal nursemaid find themselves at the centre of an epic power struggle in this stunning young adult debut.
Game of Thrones meets Grimm's Fairy Tales in this astounding novel, where women become pawns in the struggle for power. On the eve of Princess Sophia’s wedding, the Scandinavian kingdom of Skyggehavn prepares to fete the occasion with a sumptuous display of riches. Yet beneath the veneer of celebration, a shiver of darkness creeps through the palace halls. A mysterious illness plagues the royal family, threatening the lives of the throne’s heirs, and a courtier’s wolfish hunger for the king’s favours sets a devious plot in motion. Here in the palace of Skyggehavn, things are seldom as they seem – and when a single errant prick of a needle sets off a series of events that will alter the course of history, the fates of budding young seamstress Ava Bingen and crafty servant Midi Sorte become irrevocably intertwined. As they navigate a tangled web of palace intrigue, power-lust and deception, Ava and Midi must carve out their own survival any way they can, weathering desperate desires and crushing consequences on a journey to ultimate redemption.
Details
03 September 2015
9781406360967Reviews
Brazen, baroque, The Kingdom of Little Wounds plots coordinates of history, fever, and magic in such a way that each is occasionally disguised as the other. However, there's no disguising Susann Cokal's immediate rise to eminence as a pantocrator of new realms. I lived in her controversial kingdom for only a week, but I suspect and hope I shall never recover.
There are deep and shallow reading experiences; this is a deep reading experience. There is nothing like it, though the fossil record flashes all kinds of petticoat. (Sigrid Undset. Margaret Atwood.) Elegant, complex, and sharp as a needle.
An epic, mercurial tale of astounding beauty, power, and madness.
Complex and carefully crafted -- mesmerizing.
