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The Last Tale of the Flower Bride
‘Gorgeous and ornate’ Holly Black
‘Lingers like a fever dream’ V.E. Schwab
Do not look. Do not ask. Do not pry.
A sumptuous, gothic story about an obsessive female friendship cursed to end in tragedy, a marriage unraveled by dark secrets, and the danger of believing in fairy tales – the breathtaking adult debut from New York Times bestselling author Roshani Chokshi.
Once upon a time, a man who believed in fairy tales married a beautiful, mysterious woman named Indigo Maxwell-Casteñada. He was a scholar of myths. She was heiress to a fortune. They exchanged gifts and stories and believed they would live happily ever after – and in exchange for her love, Indigo extracted a promise: that her bridegroom would never pry into her past.
But when Indigo learns that her estranged aunt is dying and the couple is forced to return to her childhood home, the House of Dreams, the bridegroom soon finds himself unable to resist. For within the crumbling manor’s extravagant rooms and musty halls, there lurks the shadow of another girl: Azure, Indigo’s dearest childhood friend, who disappeared without a trace.
As the house slowly reveals his wife’s secrets, the bridegroom will be forced to choose between reality and fantasy, even if doing so threatens to destroy their marriage . . . or their lives.
Combining the lush, haunting atmosphere of Mexican Gothic with the dreamy enchantment of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, The Last Tale of the Flower Bride is a spellbinding and darkly romantic page-turner about love and lies, secrets and betrayal, and the stories we tell ourselves to survive.
‘A fairy tale in the oldest and truest sense’ Alix E. Harrow
‘A shimmering tapestry’ Yangsze Choo
‘Dark, haunting, and thrumming with mystery, magic, and love’ Sue Lynn Tan
‘An opulent, engrossing tale’ Kiran Millwood Hargrave
‘Darkly gorgeous and utterly entrancing’ Shannon Chakraborty
‘An intoxicating fever dream’ Emily Henry
‘Lingers like a fever dream’ V.E. Schwab
Do not look. Do not ask. Do not pry.
A sumptuous, gothic story about an obsessive female friendship cursed to end in tragedy, a marriage unraveled by dark secrets, and the danger of believing in fairy tales – the breathtaking adult debut from New York Times bestselling author Roshani Chokshi.
Once upon a time, a man who believed in fairy tales married a beautiful, mysterious woman named Indigo Maxwell-Casteñada. He was a scholar of myths. She was heiress to a fortune. They exchanged gifts and stories and believed they would live happily ever after – and in exchange for her love, Indigo extracted a promise: that her bridegroom would never pry into her past.
But when Indigo learns that her estranged aunt is dying and the couple is forced to return to her childhood home, the House of Dreams, the bridegroom soon finds himself unable to resist. For within the crumbling manor’s extravagant rooms and musty halls, there lurks the shadow of another girl: Azure, Indigo’s dearest childhood friend, who disappeared without a trace.
As the house slowly reveals his wife’s secrets, the bridegroom will be forced to choose between reality and fantasy, even if doing so threatens to destroy their marriage . . . or their lives.
Combining the lush, haunting atmosphere of Mexican Gothic with the dreamy enchantment of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, The Last Tale of the Flower Bride is a spellbinding and darkly romantic page-turner about love and lies, secrets and betrayal, and the stories we tell ourselves to survive.
‘A fairy tale in the oldest and truest sense’ Alix E. Harrow
‘A shimmering tapestry’ Yangsze Choo
‘Dark, haunting, and thrumming with mystery, magic, and love’ Sue Lynn Tan
‘An opulent, engrossing tale’ Kiran Millwood Hargrave
‘Darkly gorgeous and utterly entrancing’ Shannon Chakraborty
‘An intoxicating fever dream’ Emily Henry
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Reviews
I'm not sure I can capture how much this book moved, gripped, devoured me. Chokshi draws stars from the darkness. An opulent, engrossing tale with all the power of a myth and all the truth of a parable - reading a story like this reminds you why we tell them in the first place
Gorgeous and ornate, this sensual fairy tale illuminates the corrosive and redemptive power of both love and lies
A shimmering tapestry of intertwined fairytales, told through the secrets of a modern Bluebeard's chamber. The Last Tale of the Flower Bride will enthrall fans of twisty, dark journeys into the secrets of two girls, Indigo and Azure, who are inextricably linked by the perils of a mysterious house where nothing is quite as it seem
The Last Tale of the Flower Bride gripped me from its first chapter and enthralled me till the very end. An utterly breathtaking story - dark, haunting, and thrumming with mystery, magic, and love
A spellbinding gothic fairytale, enveloped in dreamy poetic prose and enigmatic characters. This is a book you'll want to devour and savour, a book you won't be able to put down until the final act leaves you in awe
Chokshi's tale is as sweet as a piece of fairy fruit, and just as wicked. Every bite is velvet, every swallow is gold, and the taste lingers like a fever dream
A fairy tale in the oldest and truest sense: a haunting dream full of blood and love, vicious truths and beautiful lies. It swallowed me whole, and I went willingly
Darkly gorgeous and utterly entrancing, Chokshi's adult fairy tale is as deadly as any fable of old; the lush, glittering prose and haunting mystery gilding a story sharper than a huntsman's blade
Roshani Chokshi's The Last Tale of the Flower Bride is an elegant, intoxicating cocktail of a book. Her gorgeous prose builds a fairy tale otherworld around you, one you'll do anything to remain in
The Last Tale of the Flower Bride is a novel steeped in tradition - from the gothic genre through world myths and fairy stories - and yet it weaves itself into something fresh and original. I very much enjoyed Chokshi's exploration of the enchantments that can exist within human relationships, the subtleties of friendship, the stories we tell to ourselves, and the lengths we will go to belong. A beautifully conjured tale
Unworldly, intoxicating-and so, so very enchanting. Each page ripples with the feeling of a dream filled by beauty and terrors alike. This is an intricate character study in finest form
A unicorn tapestry of folklore, magic, and monsters, woven with the nimblest hand and the most shimmering gilded thread. Roshani Chokshi is a master of all things baroque, sensuous, and mystical
The Last Tale of the Flower Bride is an intoxicating fever dream, an irresistibly seductive fairytale. I've never read anything like it. Chokshi's mastery of her craft is on fully display. This book will leave you utterly spellbound
The haunting power and rich tradition of the fairy tale combines with a modern Gothic twist in this must-read stunning story. Chosen as a Star Book and Liz Pick of the Month, I have struggled to express how much this novel means to me. I can only recommend it with my heart and soul
The Last Tale of the Flower Bride will haunt me for a long time - Roshani Chokshi has mastered the gothic in this skillfully wrought fairytale of sisterhood, obsession, and possession
Equal parts dizzying, dazzling, and foreboding
This gothic tale is lush and haunting
Recommended for lovers of gothic romance, magical realism, and stories where fairy tales come true
Gorgeously dark and lyrically written, this book will haunt your thoughts in all the best ways
A tale of obsessive, toxic female friendship with heavy sapphic undertones, this novel is set to be one of the most exciting reads of the year
A singular, unforgettable tale of love and magic
A delightfully meta fairy tale . . . The Last Tale of the Flower Bride is a fine addition to the shelf of novels about ordinary people being
seduced by wealth and glamour-but its real strength is the way magic emanates from every exquisitely crafted
sentence. . . . It feels like the best conjuring trick ever
I don't know how otherwise to explain this-The Last Tale of the Flower Bride is a Scorpio of a book. It is lush and extremely sensual from the very beginning, full of dark secrets and elegance that will sweep you off your feet...The Last Tale of the Flower Bride is an absolutely gorgeous read, with prose like expensive perfume and pearls. You won't want it to ever end.
This fantastic fantasy is a gothic fairy tale about a man who marries a mysterious woman who makes him promise never to pry into her past. But when they're forced to return to her family estate, he can't help but be curious...
The Last Tale of the Flower Bride is as enthralling as Indigo: full of mystery and pain with enough flashes of light to enrapture and ensnare. Beautiful prose, complicated characters and terrible discoveries will captivate readers until the chilling end. --Suzanne Krohn, librarian and freelance reviewer. Roshani Chokshi adeptly combines classic gothic and fairytale themes in The Last Tale of the Flower Bride, a captivating novel of twisted love, betrayal and magic
An exquisitely painted fairy tale filled with dark enchantment and an exploration of the monsters within
Equal parts fairy tale, friendship story, and an examination of marriage, this gothic tale is lush and haunting. Chokshi, already a best-selling author of children's and YA books, returns to the adult world in this winning, original work. Highly recommended for all fantasy collections
Retains Chokshi's signature flair for lavish world-building and plot twists, but the book is concerned with the all-grown-up topic of marriage
If you like a gothic thriller then you'll love this
An intriguing mix of a gothic fairytale and a crime thriller ... I was hooked from the very start
It's very good... A dark love story with a Gothic feel, it recalls the best, most luscious and frightening fairy tales
Finishing The Last Tale of the Flower Bride feels like waking up from a dream where you're not sure what was real and what was your slumbering subconscious playing tricks on you. It's a spellbinding adult debut that weaves a gothic tale of secrets, stories, danger and tragedy. Gorgeously dark and lyrically written, this book will haunt your thoughts in all the best ways
The Last Tale might well be Roshani's first adult novel, but if it's anything to go by, she's found a new corner of the market to take over
This story of two friends who become obsessed with each other and believe they're living in an enchanted kingdom will enthral you. Whimsical, fairy-like and tinged with darkness
This is a deeply dark but richly entertaining adult debut. Chokshi takes risks in terms of both the dense poetry of her style and the complex web of literary and cultural allusions woven into the story. The demands of the language, with its explosive imagery and multi-layered metaphors, are reminiscent of Angela Carter in its exuberance
Haunting and beautifully written, Roshani Chokshi builds an engrossing atmosphere for lovers of fairy and gothic tales