Gather among the maples and mushrooms in my humble Rhode Island backyard for an evening of guided discussion, themed eats, specialty mocktails (BYOB spirits for cocktails), and more for our first Spooky Book Club! This month we are reading Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher!
T. Kingfisher's Nettle & Bone is a dark fairy tale about Marra, a shy, convent-raised princess who realizes her older sisters have been trapped in abusive marriages to a cruel prince. Driven by a quiet but fierce determination, Marra decides that no one else will save her sister, so she must do it herself—by killing the prince.
To gain the power she needs, Marra undertakes three impossible tasks for a grave witch: building a dog out of bones, sewing a cloak from nettles, and capturing moonlight in a jar. Her perilous journey is far from solitary, as she gathers an unlikely group of companions: the grave witch herself (along with her demon-possessed chicken), a reluctant fairy godmother who's better at curses than blessings, and a disgraced former knight.
Together, this quirky and unconventional band of adventurers sets out to confront the tyrannical prince, subverting traditional fairy tale tropes with a story that is both grim and surprisingly humorous, exploring themes of abuse, agency, and found family.
You can learn more about Spooky Book Club by clicking the link here or click the button below to purchase your tickets for the spookiest and coolest book club you will ever join (probably).