A Curse Dark As Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce

A Curse Dark As Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce

A Curse Dark as Gold is a retelling of the Rumplestiltkin folktale.  Charlotte Miller is ophaned with her sister when her father’s heart gives out, and the girls are left to manage the Stirwater Mill in Shearing by themselves.  Charlotte thinks that she’ll be able to pay the bills and the employees, but then a banker shows up with a notice that her father took out a mortgage on the mill and if she doesn’t pay the balance in full, the bank will foreclose on the mill.  The townsfolk think the mill is cursed.  Charlotte has little patience for country superstitions, but when her sister performs a ritual that summons a man who offers to spin straw to gold to help the girls make a down payment on the mortgage, things are less clear cut for Charlotte.

This retelling does what few versions of the original archetype do – it gives a name and identity to the miller’s daughter in such a predicament, and it uncovers a possible reason as to why Rumplestiltskin would want her newborn son.

A Curse Dark As Gold was honored with the 2009 William C. Morris Young Adult Debut award, and it was named a Smithsonian Notable Book for Children, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, a Kansas Notable Book, a 2008 Cyblis Award finalist, and it was awarded a Blue Ribbon from the Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books.

You can visit Elizabeth C. Bunce’s website at http://www.elizabethcbunce.com.

Review by Kathleen