All the Queens’ Curses

Inspired by a blend of Orkney folklorist Tom Muir’s version of the strange folk tale Kate Crackernuts and influenced by the legends of the selkie wife from the isles of Northern Scotland, this third novel from Alyssa Hollingsworth continues to explore what she addressed in her Ph.D. thesis entitled Breaking the Curse: Retelling a Folk Fairy Tale to Explore Trauma and Healing in Novels for Young People. Set in the mystical islands of Skyare, this romantasy features stepsisters, princes and interfering parents. It is about dark secrets and inter-generational trauma wrapped in the cloak of fairy-tale.

Told in the first-person voices of Kit and Idris, the carefully crafted All the Queens’ Curses weaves the tale of capricious finfolk who demand payment for past crimes. Set to die of exhaustion and wracked by guilt, their desperation to break the cruel curses bestowed upon them by selfish parents, wicked step-parents and callous ancestors builds as the young people undergo transformations and lessons of the heart and mind. As the haar descends, will they make true choices as they consider their options?

Hollingsworth deftly juxtaposes the trickery of the Hidden folk with the dark underbelly of abuse but where the book falters is that the secondary characters of Idris’s brother Abram, Kit’s sister Catharine and their friend Jay Berd lack depth. The Puck like character of Speir has a ‘What fools, these mortals be’ energy about him while the Hidden Queen has pain masked by cold indifference. At the heart of this story of magic and betrayal there is a powerful own voice as Kit, inspired by seventeen-year-old Alyssa’s personal experiences, manages her rheumatoid arthritis. Kit’s isolation also bleeds into reality reflected in Alyssa’s time spent as an immunocompromised person during Covid-19 lockdowns.

This novel will appeal to fans of fairy-tale retellings that feature realistic characters shaped by relatable events. It will connect with teens who have had similar experiences with illnesses and faced difficult decisions. Alyssa’s next book will be another retelling featuring talking birds, stolen magic and a princess who waxes and wanes with the moon.