Alice and her mother Ella are always moving. Ella’s mother Althea is an author with a cult following. Her book of fairy tales, called Tales from the Hinterland has long been out of print, and is nearly impossible to find even in used bookstores because it’s so sought after. Alice has never met Althea – she and Ella have been on the run for far too long.
They’re on the run because of bad luck. Something is always following them. Alice is seventeen now, and word has come that her grandmother has died, and that means that everything they’ve been on the run from will soon come to a head.
Althea’s fairy tales are dark. I actually had to take a couple breaks from this book – I could totally see where it was going, and that wasn’t bad, but the atmosphere was just too much. (I really am being influenced by what’s going in the outside world in what I can tolerate for light reading.) There is a sequel, but this book is actually pretty self contained, so I am interested to see where that goes (it seems to be mainly about a character I haven’t mentioned above.) It’ll probably just be a little while before I’m ready for more.
I’ve accidently happened upon a theme here –starting in the midst of series. In this case, it’s a series of fairy tale retellings, which are loose enough there is a note saying you can start anywhere, though you’re probably better off reading them in order if you can.
I managed to start a series midway through, but it’s fortunately a good place to start in this case. Catalina has just become the head of her household of magic users (alternate present day real world with magic – this is set in Houston). A friend’s mother and sister are killed, and she vows to help, and suddenly finds herself in way over her head. And with the sudden arrival of her school day crush (a handsome Italian count, no less), things get really interesting.
The North Wind and the Sea 