The Last Tale of the Flower Bride: A Novel

by Roshani Chokshi

Overview

"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." — V. E. Schwab, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

"A delightfully meta fairy tale. . . . Magic emanates from every exquisitely crafted sentence. . . . It feels like the best conjuring trick ever." — Charlie Jane Anders, Washington Post

A sumptuous, gothic-infused story about a marriage that is unraveled by dark secrets, a friendship cursed to end in tragedy, 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 will soon find 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 suddenly disappeared. 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.

?"Gorgeous and ornate, this sensual fairy tale illuminates the corrosive and redemptive power of both love and lies." — Holly Black, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Book of Night

"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." — Alix E. Harrow, New York Times bestselling author of The Once and Future Witches

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063206502
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	02/14/2023
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	5,800
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 8.10(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

ROSHANI CHOKSHI is the award-winning author of the New York Times bestselling series the Star-Touched Queen and the Gilded Wolves, as well as of Aru Shah and the End of Time, which Time magazine named one of the 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time. Her novels have been translated into more than two dozen languages and often draw upon world mythology and folklore. Chokshi is a member of the National Leadership Board for the Michael C. Carlos Museum and lives in Georgia with her husband and their cat.

Editorial Reviews

11/07/2022

Bestseller Chokshi (best known for the YA novel The Gilded Wolves) makes her adult debut with a lush and haunting modern fairy tale about the nature of friendship and love. Indigo Maxwell-Casteñada, the heiress to a fortune, wants for nothing but love. She finds it in the unnamed narrator, a man who embraces all things mysterious and unexplained. Their marriage is built on sharing fairy stories, playing fantastical games, and maintaining a no questions asked policy about Indigo’s past. But when Indigo’s dying aunt and onetime guardian forces them to return to the House of Dreams, Indigo’s childhood home, secrets bubble to the surface. The ghost of Indigo’s childhood best friend clings to the House of Dreams and begs to be acknowledged. Soon fantasy and reality blur, testing the strength of the couple’s love, and even threatening their lives. Chokshi’s prose overflows with metaphor and lavish imagery, adding to the decadent, gothic feel as the mystery of Indigo’s past intensifies. The result is equal parts dizzying, dazzling, and foreboding. Agent: Thao Le, Sandra Dijkstra Literary. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

"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." — V. E. Schwab, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

"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." — Charlie Jane Anders, Washington Post

"A dazzling fairy tale for adults. . . . Take a fairy tale, infuse it with a gothic flair, drizzle in some dark romance, and you get The Last Tale of the Flower Bride." — Time, Best Books of February 2023

"Roshani Chokshi's transfixing first novel for adults is a fairytale-infused story about marriage and the secrets couples keep from each other. That, and an enchanted house off the coast of Washington and hotel fortune." — Today.com

"Gorgeous and ornate, this sensual fairy tale illuminates the corrosive and redemptive power of both love and lies." — Holly Black, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Book of Night

"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." — Alix E. Harrow, New York Times bestselling author of The Once and Future Witches

"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.” — Chloe Gong, New York Times bestselling author of Foul Lady Fortune

“The Last Tale of the Flower Bride is an intoxicating fever dream, an irresistibly seductive fairy tale. I've never read anything like it. Chokshi's mastery of her craft is on full display. This book will leave you utterly spellbound.”
— Emily Henry, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Book Lovers

"A shimmering tapestry of intertwined fairy tales, 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 seems." — Yangsze Choo, New York Times bestselling author of The Night Tiger

"Reading Chokshi’s prose is like sinking deeply into the overstuffed arms of a plush, purple velvet sofa. Her lavish descriptions . . . wrap you in sumptuous sensory detail." — New York Times

"Chokshi’s writing is vivid and lovely." — Entertainment Weekly

“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.” — Sue Lynn Tan, bestselling author of Daughter of the Moon Goddess

"Roshani Chokshi knows fairy tales and myth like few other writers, and in these pages, her knowledge of those traditions shimmers like actual magic. The Last Tale of the Flower Bride is not only a thrillingly inventive modern fairy tale, but also a book that invites us to rethink all fairy tales. This novel is addictive, decadent, and sultry—a dark fantasy, a subtle and sensitive story of female friendship, and a seductive examination of the mysteries of marriage itself. It will shock, disarm, and delight you, with surprise reverberating all the way to its very last lines." — Sanjena Sathian, author of Gold Diggers

“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.” — Shannon Chakraborty, bestselling author of The City of Brass

"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." — Kiran Millwood Hargrave, internationally bestselling author of The Mercies

"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." — Kat Howard, award-winning author of An Unkindness of Magicians

 "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." — Claire Heywood, author of Daughters of Sparta

“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.” — Ava Reid, bestselling author of The Wolf and the Woodsman 

"Bestseller Chokshi makes her adult debut with a lush and haunting modern fairy tale about the nature of friendship and love. . . . Chokshi’s prose overflows with metaphor and lavish imagery, adding to the decadent, gothic feel as the mystery of Indigo’s past intensifies. The result is equal parts dizzying, dazzling, and foreboding.” — Publishers Weekly

“The gothic atmosphere of this fairy-tale romance, mixed with heartbreaking tragedy, creates a story that hovers between fantasy and illusion. It begins with an enchantment and ends with its breaking. In between, a dream becomes a nightmare—until they both wake up. Chokshi’s adult debut is recommended for lovers of gothic romance, magical realism, and stories where fairy tales come true, especially when they shouldn’t.” — Library Journal

"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." — Booklist, starred review

"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. . . . An absolutely gorgeous read, with prose like expensive perfume and pearls. You won’t want it to ever end." — Christina Orlando, Tor.com

“An exquisitely painted fairy tale filled with dark enchantment and an exploration of the monsters within.” — BuzzfeedNews.com

From the Publisher

12/01/2022

DEBUT Once upon a time, a man who studied fairy tales fell in love with a woman who believed she lived in one. The story centers on an unnamed groom who has promised not to question his beautiful, mysterious wife about her shrouded past. They enjoy a lush, sensual romance of delights, games, and illusions, cocooned from the real world by her wealth and his ability to tell stories. At least until circumstances carry them back to her childhood home, where an entirely different fairy tale played itself out over the days of her youth. When he breaks his promise and delves into his wife's true heart, he expects that truth to be deadly. And so it is—but it still manages to set them both free. The gothic atmosphere of this fairy-tale romance, mixed with heartbreaking tragedy, creates a story that hovers between fantasy and illusion. It begins with an enchantment and ends with its breaking. In between, a dream becomes a nightmare—until they both wake up. VERDICT Chokshi's (Aru Shah and the Nectar of Immortality) adult debut is recommended for lovers of gothic romance, magical realism, and stories where fairy tales come true, especially when they shouldn't.—Marlene Harris

Library Journal

★ 2023-01-25
In Chokshi's gothic fairy tale, a poor academic marries a glamorous heiress who makes him vow not to search for her secrets.

A fairy-tale scholar known only as “the bridegroom” meets the mysterious, fabulously wealthy Indigo Maxwell-Casteñada when he asks to see a rare book from her family’s private collection. Almost immediately, he and Indigo embark on a whirlwind romance fueled by their mutual love of stories. But despite her passion for him, Indigo keeps the bridegroom at a distance, making him promise never to dig into her past. Then, when Indigo gets word that the aunt who raised her is dying, she and the bridegroom return to her childhood home, the House of Dreams. The mysterious mansion is bursting with Indigo’s secrets, making it harder and harder for the bridegroom to keep his promise, especially when it comes to the question of Indigo’s childhood friend Azure. Azure, a working-class girl from the neighborhood, was like a sister to Indigo until they had a fight and she completely disappeared. As the bridegroom dives further into Indigo’s past, he realizes he may be at risk of disappearing, too. Chokshi’s novel is a true fairy tale, both in its poetic, fantastical imagery and its thematic interest in the price people pay for freedom and love. The parallels between the bridegroom and Azure as mere mortals faced with Indigo’s impossible privilege, and the connection between Indigo and Azure as young girls enamored with creating their own magic, make the tension bubble higher and higher until it boils over. And as in the best folktales, the issues at the crux of the otherworldly struggles here are simply, and painfully, human.

A singular, unforgettable tale of love and magic.

Kirkus Reviews

Gorgeous and ornate, this sensual fairy tale illuminates the corrosive and redemptive power of both love and lies.”

#1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black