“Nothing has value until it is given away or stolen.”
“In the darkness, fear my light.”
—By Jamal Stone
Broad Street is excited to see the final copy of our very own Susann Cokal‘s latest book, The Kingdom of Little Wounds. Set in the Scandinavian city of Skyggehavn (Skü-geh-hown, rhymes with “down”) during the Renaissance, the novel tells the tale of two young women, seamstress Ava Bingen and nursemaid Midi Sorte, as they navigate the mystical and dangerous world of the northern court. The Kingdom of Little Wounds is Cokal’s third novel (after Mirabilis, published in 2001, and Breath and Bones, 2005) and features a fabulous cover and a red edge stain.
The writing is as beautiful as the design. It has already received starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews and Publishers Weekly, where the writer had this to say about it: “Dark and bloody fairy tales inform this dense, 16th-century narrative, richly layered with multiple viewpoints…In her first novel for young adults, adult author Cokal explores the landscape of the female body as it has been for so long: property of parents or husband, subject to the needs of family and state….Though the novel’s frank and upsetting [subjects] mark this title for mature readers, its brutality, eloquence, and scope are a breathtaking combination.”
Check out that interview here, read some more interviews here, tour Susann’s jam-packed website, and read about her truth-telling research into life in 1572. And be sure to pick up a copy of The Kingdom of Little Wounds!
UPDATE 2016: More starred reviews followed, and so did a silver medal from the American Library Association’s Printz Award committee. The Kingdom of Little Wounds is now out in paperback and available everywhere.
True stories, honestly.
