Review Detail

Reader reviewed by Julie M. Prince

Charlotte Miller doesnt believe in curses. Accidents happen and the fact that they happen frequently around her familys woolen mill means nothing. Its all just coincidence.

Now that her father is gone, Charlotte and her sister, Rosie, are all thats left of the Miller line. Just the two of them and the old mill. Charlotte means to keep it up and running no matter how many potential buyers show up to explain that a mere girl cannot possibly run a business. She'll show them.

If only her father hadnt bequeathed a legacy of debt! Left with little choice, Charlotte takes on a debt of her own by agreeing to help from a strange man who promises to make gold from straw. This saves her precious family mill and in turn the entire village of Shearing that relies upon it&and her&but what will happen when the next crisis comes along? That Miller bad luck is beginning to seem all too real.

In a debut novel that kept me up at night and had its characters dancing their way through my dreams, Elizabeth C. Bunce has managed to spin a tale worthy of any folklorists admiration.

The millers daughter tells her side of a Rumpelstiltskin-like tale. Beautiful language, a vivid late 1700s setting, and imaginative, but realistic characters bring every scene to life.

This book is highly recommended, especially for fans of Libba Bray books, movies like EVER AFTER, and other fairy tale retellings and stories that put a strong female character squarely in control of her own destiny.