The Maiden and Her Monster

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What to expect

The forest eats the girls who wander out after dark . . .


‘A dark, atmospheric and riveting debut, wreathed around a love story like no other’ – Samantha Shannon, author of the million-copy bestseller The Priory of the Orange Tree

Rooted in fairytales, folklore, and sapphic romance, The Maiden and Her Monster by Maddie Martinez is perfect for fans of Katherine Arden, Ava Reid, and Naomi Novik.

As the healer’s daughter, Malka has seen how the forest’s curse has plagued her village. But when the Ozmini Church comes to collect its tithe, they don’t listen to the warnings about a monster lurking in the trees. After a clergy girl wanders too close to the forest and Malka’s mother is accused of her murder, Malka strikes an impossible bargain with a zealot Ozmini priest: if she brings him the monster, he will spare her mother from execution.

Venturing into the blood-soaked woods, Malka finds a monster, albeit not the one she expects: an inscrutable, disgraced golem who agrees to implicate herself if Malka will help to free the imprisoned rabbi who created her.

But a deal easily made is not easily kept. And as their bargain begins to unveil a much more sinister threat, protecting her people may force Malka to endanger the one person she left home to save – and to face her growing feelings for the very creature she was taught to fear.

* * *

‘A dark and endlessly enchanting fairy tale’ – Ava Reid, No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of A Study in Drowning

‘A gorgeous dark fantasy rendered in detail sharp as a tailor’s needle’ – S. T. Gibson, No. 1 Sunday Times bestselling author of A Dowry of Blood

‘A dark, poignant fairy tale about resilience, faith, and redemption’ – Allison Saft, the Sunday Times bestselling author of A Dark and Drowning Tide

Critics Review

Beautifully written and bursting with detail, The Maiden and Her Monster is a dark, atmospheric and riveting debut, wreathed around a love story like no other
Samantha Shannon, author of the million-copy bestseller The Priory of the Orange Tree
A dark and endlessly enchanting fairy tale, unfurled in frost and wood-smoke, the kind that is whispered by candlelight and brushes up against history itself. I adored every page
Ava Reid, No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of The Wolf and the Woodsman
The Maiden and Her Monster is an evocative, harrowing and deeply romantic dark fantasy debut that will move so many readers the way it did me. Maddie Martinez is an incredible talent and definitely one to watch
Alexis Henderson, author of The Year of the Witching and An Academy for Liars
A gorgeous dark fantasy rendered in detail sharp as a tailor's needle, threaded through with longing, resilience and enchantment.
S. T. Gibson, No. 1 Sunday Times bestselling author of A Dowry of Blood
Told with exquisite yearning and gorgeous prose, The Maiden and Her Monster is a dark, poignant fairy tale about resilience, faith and redemption. Martinez’s debut will enspell you
Allison Saft, No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of A Dark and Drowning Tide
Blending tradition, faith and folklore with a deft hand, Martinez crafts a profound tale of self-acceptance and the bittersweet price of progress, woven through on a thread of unyielding hope
K. M. Enright, Sunday Times bestselling author of Mistress of Lies
Reminiscent of the folktales of old, The Maiden and Her Monster is a beautifully haunting debut with sharp teeth. Maddie Martinez weaves words like a magic spell, ensnaring readers with her poignant prose and beguiling atmosphere
Chelsea Abdullah, award-winning author of The Stardust Thief
Martinez delivers a taut and delicious debut, threading a sultry romance and tense political intrigue through an atmospheric and haunting world inspired by Jewish myth
Laura R. Samotin, author of The Sins on Their Bones
An exquisite debut about an eldest daughter and how far she would go to protect her family. Malka's journey toward finding confidence in herself and falling in love with a certain surly golem is as legendary as the myths peppered throughout the story. This book is an instant classic
Kamilah Cole, bestselling author of So Let Them Burn
The writing is beautiful, and the story is fantastic. Highly recommended for readers who love the work of Naomi Novik, Katherine Arden, Natasha Siegel, and Allison Saft
Library Journal, STARRED review

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