Customer Reviews

A Curse Dark as Gold

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is a dark, gorgeous re-telling of "Rumpelstiltskin," but it is also the tale re-shaped for a more modern setting: England at the start of the Industrial Revolution. The miller is a woman, and her worries are modern worries, such as debt and bankruptcy. Her mill keeps most of the village around it employed, and she wants to give her sister a good start in life. Worse, the mill, and her family, seem to be cursed. The characters, from the miller's family to the townspeople, are all interesting. I really liked and admired the hard-working miller and the bank representative who tries to help her. And this new Rumpelstiltskin is believable and scary. As I approached the end of the book, I was praying that everything would turn out well, and I wasn't sure if the writer could pull it off! If you like Libba Bray and Melissa Marr, I think you will love this book!

Since her father's death, the fate of the Miller family woolen mill and that of the Shearing village rests on Charlotte's shoulders. An unexpected and seemingly insurmountable debt leads to a difficult choice for the normally practical and levelheaded miller's daughter.

Must she take the offer of the strange little man who can weave straw into gold, or can she make her own way through the maze of ill luck and deceit that seems her family legacy?

Elizabeth C. Bunce's A CURSE DARK AS GOLD is worth its own weight in gold and then some. A folkloric re-telling beyond Rumpelstiltskin proportions, this tale weaves the best storytelling techniques into a fine tapestry of intrigue, drama, and romance.

The tight writing never wavers. Gorgeous, consistent language abounds, like, "I sank to my knees in a sea of crumpled flannel and pressed my hands into the sharp shale of the yard, as if bites from the stones could remind me of who I was."

And just who is Charlotte Miller? Certainly one of the most fascinating characters I've come across of late. If not self-confident at the beginning of our story, she is at least confident in what she knows: the mill cannot go under and the families of Shearing cannot be allowed to starve or scatter to the winds. As she is the only one around to prevent these happenings, Charlotte will do what she must to prevent them. And so she does.

As time goes on, and with Pinchfields Mill of Harrowgate nipping at her heels, Charlotte's choices become ever more difficult and the stakes are raised as she struggles through crisis after crisis. Charlotte's resolve to dismiss the very idea of the Miller Curse crumbles into a pile of wasted wishes as the harsh reality of the unreal comes to be. She is forced to play the hand that's dealt, facing sinister forces she once easily dismissed.

A strong protagonist indeed.

Every word counts in this amazing book. The language, while assuredly stunning and appealing, is never frivolous. It's hard to believe this is a debut novel, and I eagerly await whatever Ms. Bunce wishes to put in front of me next, as it's sure to be delightful and satisfying if it's near the quality of A CURSE DARK AS GOLD.

It's only fitting that this novel be recommended for the Gold Star Award for Excellence and admittance to the TeensReadToo Hall of Fame.

Reviewed by: Julie M. Prince

Charlotte Miller is a young girl who just lost her father. She and her younger sister, Rosie, have just inherited the mill that has been in their family for generations. As far as Charlotte can remember their have been whispers of strange goings on at the mill, and likewise to he Miller family, that have been attributed to a curse. Charlotte finds this notion ridiculous and turns her nose up at the townspeople's more superstitious notions, but when events get more dire she begins to give the rumors a bit of credence, particularly so when an eldritch young man shows up at her door offering his services.

Part mystery, part fairy tale, part ghost story this ingenious retelling of "Rumplestiltskin" will have readers stunned from the word go. Bunce has certainly done her research with the workings of mills and the people from this period in history. The result is a strikingly written story that will have it's readers wondering what happened to the characters long after the close of the book. I enjoyed this story far more than I thought I would, and will highly recommend it in the future.

Set at the start of the industrial revolution, Charlotte Miller must rescue her failing business. Her enemy is far worse than the bank with whom she is indebted or her fierce competitor, but a curse which snares her as it did the long line of Millers before her.

The prose and suspense is well-written and elegant. So easily I would have rated this novel with five stars, if it weren't for the heroine. I started the book rather liking Charlotte, but by the end she was irritating. Independent to a fault, she chooses not even to trust her husband who could have been her strongest supporter emotionally. Although in the end she confides her troubles, she still does not admit to anyone she needs help. She may depict a realistic character, but not a healthy one. I would have preferred that Charlotte was the secondary character and Rosie the heroine.

Wow. Read. This. Book.

As soon as I saw it was available on Amazon, I placed an order, and as soon as the order came, I picked up A Curse Dark as Gold. Since first learning about it, I wanted to read it.

This is a retelling of "Rumpelstiltskin" set during the early days of the Industrial Revolution in a fictitious part of England. After the death of her father, seventeen-year-old Charlotte Miller takes charge of the family's mill. But nothing ever seems to go right. There's debt and vandalism, the mill seems to have a mind of its own, and the superstitious villagers whisper of a curse. And when a stranger appears with the power to spin straw into gold, Charlotte must decide how much his help is worth because everything she holds dear might depend upon her decision.

Okay. So basically, I loved everything about this book. I'm not kidding. I loved the way Bunce weaved in the fairy tale (I've never read a "Rumpelstiltskin" retelling before) and I loved the setting. I loved the characters. Even while I wanted to smack Charlotte, make her see sense, I understood her feelings and actions perfectly. The uncle was another character that even while I wanted to hate him and did, I still loved him as a character. The writing and imagery were beautiful; the other characters wonderful. And this book was dark. Seriously. As I was reading, it was dark, and my room was lit only by reading light. Outside, the wind howled and the rain pounded down, and it wasn't ideal for reading a book that was making my heart race. I wanted nothing more than to pick up something lighter, but I couldn't stop reading A Curse Dark as Gold. I had to learn what happened and I had to finish it. I didn't even read ahead because I didn't want to stop reading.

So yes...you'll probably guess at the ending, but still, to me it doesn't matter. It is based on a fairy tale, right? And there were still plenty of twists to make readers who like surprises still enjoy this book. I know that I didn't guess at some of the stuff until reaching a moment of foreshadowing.

I loved this book. It's one of my new favorites. And to be honest, I wasn't going to review this one until later because I had finished some other books that still need to be reviewed. But I just loved this one so much that I couldn't wait to tell you all about it.

Read it.

In many ways, this book had "above average" within its grasp. Its concepts are ambitious, and Rumpelstiltskin is an intriguing, original choice for a fairy tale retelling (there are certainly plenty of Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella).

In some ways, the plot elements here hardly resemble the Grimms' version. We do have a straw-to-gold-spinning entity who aspires to take the protagonist's infant son. However, Charlotte Miller does not marry a king, and freeing herself of Mr. Spinner's curse is more involved than guessing his name, as is the history of the curse itself. The plot and backstory stand as two strong pillars for this book's foundation. Unfortunately, its main floor is a little shaky.

The characters use mostly archaic vocabulary (some modern phrases sneak in, and most of the syntax is modern, as well), but their attitudes don't reflect the era of their speech. In 18th-century England or America, Charlotte's actions would receive far more censure than is depicted here. Of course, I prefer a strong heroine to a fainting one, but without better explanation, Charlotte Miller throws off convention just too drastically. Insisting to run a business alone is one thing, but she also refuses to allow her husband to pay the mortgage because it's "her" debt, once jokingly calls her new husband "Mr. Miller" when he calls her "Mrs. Woodstone," etc.

As noted by other reviewers, the protagonist did not garner my sympathies. Perhaps she would have, if I'd understood her motivations better. Yes, she fears the curse, and this fear drives her to shut out everyone around her so as not to endanger them, but that fear alone simply didn't satisfy me as sufficient motivation for some of her actions. I did like Rosie and Harte, and even Randall, who does the best he can under the circumstances. The most sympathetic moment in the book (for me) was for Randall when Charlotte "pawns" the watch. Overall, the book left me wishing for more character complexity.

The greatest flaw, though, lies with the setting. The mill is described with appropriate detail, but the village around it seems little more than a vacuum. Does this story take place in England? America? Much of the dialogue could even be Irish. I realize that fairy tales take place "in a faraway land," but this one is unique because it *doesn't*. The author's note at the end confirms that she researched the mill industry of the 1700's. With these details woven so deeply into the story, readers are compelled to picture a society, a time (more specific than a century) and a place; but in this book, we can't. We have no hint of the period's politics, of real-life contemporaries of the characters. The religion (corn dollies, magic herbs, various charms and spells) feels more medieval than Puritan, despite the mention of a hanging for witchcraft.

It seems that Ms. Bunce wished to create a "historical fairy tale." While the idea is fresh and intriguing, the execution doesn't quite work. That said, her writing style is not unpleasing, and the originality of this tale gives reason to read her next one.

'A Curse Dark as Gold' is a retelling of Rumpelstiltskin. I'm not going to say anything else, plot-wise.

I loved this book so, so much. Retold fairy tales are my favorite book genre, so I expected to *like* it, but I flat-out adored 'Curse'. I'd never read a retelling of Rumplestiltskin before. I was chatting about the book with my friend Sarah, and we decided that one of the things we loved was how you're not sure if there's magic afoot at all. It's all just slightly vague enough to make you wonder. You think maybe there's really magic, yet you're not quite sure . . . which puts you in the same position as the main character! And when Jack Spinner first appeared . . . ooh what a powerful moment.

I like how the author mixed some good in with the bad. It could've easily been one of those books that are just plain depressing cause so many bad things happen. But it wasn't. I liked the character of the uncle, I thought he was really interesting/funny/3D. I mean, he was horrible; but I rather liked him as a character. Charlotte was such a wonderful character. Sometimes I just wanted to shake her! But I could understand where she was coming from at the same time. I also liked Rosie . . . I liked how she didn't stay the same the whole time; you know, the feisty little sister who is the sidekick. She grew and changed.

I wonder how many times the word "gold" or "golden" appears in the book!? Golden hair and golden fields and Gold Valley and gold gold gold . . . it was obviously a major theme in it. I love themes in books. :)

'Curse' was a lovely, incredible book . . . one of the best fairy tale retellings I've ever read.

Set in the fictional eighteenth-century town of Shearing, A Curse Dark as Gold is a complex tale of magic, greed, love, and redemption inspired by the fairytale "Rumpelstiltskin." Stirwaters mill is the town's heart. When James Miller dies without a male heir, the mill falls to his two young daughters, Charlotte and Rosie. Charlotte takes on the responsibility of running the mill, realizing that without it the town will die and the populace will be hard pressed to make ends meet. Although the girls know much about the mill's operation, they find that many aren't willing to do business with women. Also, a rival mill in a nearby town would like to eliminate the competition. Add to that the mill's proclivity to drop signs on innocent bystanders and refuse repairs to cracks and crevices, which reappear overnight. There are rumors that the mill is cursed, but Charlotte won't believe it. And the local superstitions are nonsense, of course.

Like the miller's daughter in "Rumpelstiltskin," Charlotte must do the impossible. She accepts help from a mysterious man, Jack Spinner, who offers her a way out. For her mother's cheap ring, he'll spin straw into golden thread. The next time, the price is a bit dearer. But it's only jewelry and compared to the livelihood of a town, it seems a small price. And the final price? Maybe more than Charlotte can pay. But what connection does this man have to the mill and the bad fortune that plagues it? Charlotte needs to figure that out to save her mill, her town, and her family.

Elizabeth Bunce has an amazing talent for immersing the reader in her setting. The town and mill fairly reek of old England, as do her characters. Charlotte is head-strong and determined. Rosie is charmingly impulsive. Uncle Wheeler is delightfully arrogant and wicked, and the numerous townsfolk fit into the story perfectly. Ms. Bunce has used ordinary words to spin a finely crafted work of art--A Curse Dark as Gold.

It's hard to miss the fact this is a retelling of Rumpelstiltskin. It's on the back of the book, and in just about every review. However, given that only one of the five teens I asked had more than the foggiest notion of the Rumpelstiltskin tale, I want to let readers know: It's a beautiful and atmospheric book all on its own. It is a dense and rich story, and if you want something to breeze through, pass this by until a cold and rainy afternoon, when giving the story some concentration will bring you rich return. I loved the depth of the characters, and from the descriptions, I could picture the Gold Valley and the uncle and his jaunty blue frock coat and the falling down pieces of Stirwaters. If you are reader with above-average expectations for your books, and if you are willing to give this story the bit of extra time it deserves, give A CURSE AS DARK AS GOLD a try. Don't miss the Author's Note at the end--it adds much to the experience.

This retelling of Rumpelstiltskin immediately reeled me in. The details of the mill operation brought the story to life, even though I didn't know all the milling terms used. Looking back on it now, I think a diagram or two of the milling machines could have helped me keep the terms straight as I read. Hopefully in future editions, they will devote a page or two at the front to something like that.

A lot of fairy tale retellings can be unimaginative, but this retelling is fresh and original. That's saying a lot for a story whose bones have been around for ages.

I also loved the strong female character who doesn't go running to the men in her life to solve all her problems. And she's a small businesswoman, to boot!

This is an excellent first novel from Bunce, and more than deserving of this year's Morris YA Debut Award.