Spindlewood

Tales of the Boundaries

by Marcus Attwater

For sixteen years Celia has lived exactly as one would expect a nice middle class girl to live – cherished, sheltered and untried. But then she is struck down by a mysterious illness caused by a spiteful curse. Mortally tired and with her friends and family powerless to help her, she is sent away on a trip to Warwickshire in an attempt to raise her spirits. There, oblivious to the rich history of her surroundings, she meets a fairy woman on the edge of the woods who offers her a chance of escape. Celia only has to join her on the other side of the boundary and she will be well again. But those who enter fairyland at the Lady Spindle’s invitation rarely return to the human world...

Spindlewood is a Victorian fairy tale about the tension between wishes and expectations. It is part of the Tales of the Boundaries, a series of novellas exploring what happens when this and the otherworld meet. They can be read in any order.

Genres: Fantasy, Fairy Tales, Retellings, Historical, Victorian, Fiction

ebook

First published May 5, 2022

About the author

Attwater Books is a small publishing house in the Netherlands with a catalogue of English fiction and non-fiction in Dutch. Attwater Books strives to bring its books from writers to readers with as few steps as possible in between. It is all about the story, not about author-reader interaction or creating social media buzz.
This Goodreads profile lists fiction titles from Ally Hastings and Marcus Attwater and books mentioned on our blog. We give our own books 4 stars as a matter of course...

Reviews

[LizI · Rating 4 out of 5]

This surprising story reconfigures the cursed sleep from Sleeping Beauty as the ideal of passive Victorian womanhood, but instead of a spirited, rebellious heroine as in so much historical or fantasy fiction, Celia is a quietly observant one, who negotiates her awakening in her own good time - and not at the point when you traditionally expect it.

[Glenn Schot · Rating 5 out of 5]

An Interesting Journey

The first pages seemed dull, then pow, another story entirely. A commentary on time and imagination highly recommend a short read.

[Kit88 · Rating 3 out of 5]

A charming story about a sleeping beauty who doesn’t need a prince to wake her. A quick read which nonetheless gives you plenty to think about.