I Love Fairytales: A Guest Post by Erin A. Craig
A fairytale romance with an edge, The Thirteenth Child is a story of actions and consequences, life and death, and the magic of love. It’s haunting and heartwarming, all in one. Read on for an exclusive essay from Erin A. Craig on writing The Thirteenth Child.
Hardcover $20.99
The Thirteenth Child (B&N Exclusive Edition)
The Thirteenth Child (B&N Exclusive Edition)
Hardcover $20.99
Drawing on the Grimm Brothers’ dark fairytale, “Godfather Death,” this new novel by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of House of Salt and Sorrows is a sweeping, fantastical saga of actions and consequences.
This is the story of Hazel, a young healer navigating a ruthless court to save the life of the king, grappling with a pantheon of gods with questionable agendas as she fights for agency and true love in her own life as the goddaughter of none other than Death himself.
All gifts come with a price.
Drawing on the Grimm Brothers’ dark fairytale, “Godfather Death,” this new novel by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of House of Salt and Sorrows is a sweeping, fantastical saga of actions and consequences.
This is the story of Hazel, a young healer navigating a ruthless court to save the life of the king, grappling with a pantheon of gods with questionable agendas as she fights for agency and true love in her own life as the goddaughter of none other than Death himself.
All gifts come with a price.
I don’t think it’s a secret that I love fairytales. I’ve been drawn to their familiar storylines, fantastical elements, and plot twists since I was a kid. A squad of sisters who can literally dance through pairs of shoes in a single evening? A terrifying beast transformed by the love of a beautiful maiden’s pure heart? Cannibalistic witches with a penchant for architectural design? Sign me up!
After releasing House of Salt and Sorrows, I was a on quest to decide what the next thing I’d write would be. When I pulled down my copy of The Complete Brothers Grimm and began scanning through the list of stories, one title popped out at me—“Godfather Death.” I’d never heard of it before, but it sounded suitably intriguing. I quickly read through the tale of a rather petulant doctor who had been blessed by Death, decided it didn’t really do anything for me, and moved on, ultimately turning “Rumpelstiltskin” into my second novel, Small Favors. But there was one scene in “Godfather Death”—a candlelit cavern, full of thousands of tapers and tealights, where every flame represented a human life—that I just couldn’t get out of my head.
The image of so many flickering lights stayed with me across another two novels and finally, I decided it was time to try writing it. Hazel and her unusual godfather came to me quickly, and though her story fills more pages than any of my other books, it came out with ease and joy. I knew this book was special.
As much fun as I had researching everything that would go into Hazel’s medical training, giving pithy one-liners to two-faced gods, and navigating a gloriously decadent and debauched court, it also gave me the opportunity to explore many of my own thoughts and worries. I was watching my beloved grandmother near the end of her extraordinarily long and altogether too short life. I wanted to ground myself in that moment and ponder what happens after death and how such an incredibly well-lived life would be defined and remembered.
I believe with my whole heart that The Thirteenth Child’s epilogue is very best and most meaningful thing I will ever write. I’ve had so many wonderfully earnest conversations with readers about their lost loved ones and with caregivers who sit at deathbeds offering comfort. It’s an important stage of life that is so often hidden away or rushed through and I wanted to create a space where we all sat in its magnitude, waiting in the darkness. I’m so glad that Hazel’s glimmering candle continues to cast a light for all who have needed it.
